APY3702/STUDY GUIDE/3/2023

APY3702 Study Guide

Department Anthropology & Archaeology

IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Please register on myUnisa, activate your myLife e-mail account and
make sure that you have regular access to the myUnisa module
website, APY3702-2023-0

Note: This is a fully online module. It is, therefore, only available on myUnisa.

APY3702
 CONTENTS

Page

1 INTRODUCTION TO APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY ...................................................................... 3

2 OVERVIEW OF APY3702 .............................................................................................................. 4
2.1 Getting started ................................................................................................................................ 4
2.2 Purpose of this module ................................................................................................................... 4
2.3 Outcomes ....................................................................................................................................... 4
3 LECTURER(S) AND CONTACT DETAILS .................................................................................... 5
3.1 Lecturer(s) ...................................................................................................................................... 5
3.2 Department ..................................................................................................................................... 5
4 RESOURCES ................................................................................................................................. 5
4.1 Joining myUnisa ............................................................................................................................. 5
4.2 Recommended books ..................................................................................................................... 6
4.3 Electronic reserves (e-reserves) ..................................................................................................... 6
4.4 myUnisa tools ................................................................................................................................. 6
5 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................ 6
APY3702 LESSONS: APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY................................................................................. 7
PART ONE: THE PRINCIPLES OF APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY ........................................................... 7
Lesson 1: HISTORICAL CONTEXTUALISATION OF APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY ................................ 7
Lesson 2: THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ........................................................................... 13
Lesson 3: APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGICAL METHODOLOGY................................................................ 18
Lesson 4: APPLYING ANTHROPOLOGY/ROLES OF APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGISTS ....................... 22
Lesson 5: ETHICAL ISSUES AND CONSIDERATIONS .......................................................................... 25
PART TWO: SELECTED FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL APPLICATION ...................................... 34
Lesson 6: ANTHROPOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT .............................................................................. 34
Lesson 7: ANTHROPOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES ............................................................ 38
Lesson 8: ANTHROPOLOGY AND EDUCATION .................................................................................... 43
Lesson 9: ANTHROPOLOGY AND HEALTHCARE ................................................................................. 46
Lesson 10: ANTHROPOLOGY AND BUSINESS ..................................................................................... 51
Lesson 11: ANTHROPOLOGY AND HUMAN RIGHTS ........................................................................... 54
Lesson 12: ANTHROPOLOGICAL ACTIVISM ......................................................................................... 58
LIST OF REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................... 61

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 APY3702/STUDY GUIDE/3/2023

1 INTRODUCTION TO APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY

Dear Student

Welcome to Applied Anthropology: Contemporary Human Issues and Practice of Anthropology.

If you have already done some studies in anthropology, you will have realised that anthropology
is interesting, exciting, relevant, contemporary and useful, mainly because it is about the most
complex and difficult to understand species on earth: us. So, it is all about people, and
anthropology and even more so applied anthropology is for people. It goes hand in hand with an
interest in the people with whom we share this planet. Anthropologists are interested in human
behaviour/survival strategies in group context. This means that we do not go looking for
anthropology, because anthropology is around us. We live anthropology, because wherever we
are and wherever there are people, our interaction with other people is part of our everyday life.
As anthropologists we are curious about humanity, what people think, what people do, why
people do what they do, why it matters to them, and how it is done. In essence, we are
interested in the way we as humans construct our everyday lives to successfully survive life on
this planet.

• Just as a reminder: the word anthropology derived from the two Greek words anthropos
and logos; anthropos meaning human and logos meaning science or study. This means
that in its simplest terms; anthropology is the study of humans (Nelson 2020:5).
• More specifically, anthropologists study ways of how we as humans organise our lives
(ways of living; also referred to as cultural or sociocultural patterns), which we learn and
share as members of a group, community or society. Ways of living include ways of
thinking, acting and material objects that have been created in group context.
• Applied anthropology literally means the application of anthropological knowledge (data,
perspectives, theory and methods) to find solutions to contemporary human issues
(Kottak 2019:102, Nkwi 2015:x).

As applied anthropologists we are interested in finding suitable solutions to contemporary

human problems, everyday problems and, sometimes, extraordinary problems. It is our intent to
find solutions in forms that will be appropriate, acceptable and sustainable for the affected
members of groups such as our own communities, corporate communities and all kinds of
communities, groups and societies. In doing this, we apply our special anthropological approach
and perspective to different human issues and problems in different situations and conditions.
As anthropologists we are proud of our holistic approach to the study of humankind, our
contextual analyses and fieldwork techniques, particularly participant observation and
interviewing. Such an approach has implications in terms of communication, understanding,
sympathy and empathy among people, both similar and diverse.

Ntarangwi (2019:452) in his discussion of the history, teaching and application of anthropology
in post-colonial Africa, refers to anthropology’s research method of ethnography being
successfully used by a number of other disciplines, which could make the existence of
anthropology obsolete. He, however, notes that he does not think this will happen because “my
sense is that anthropology is more than its field methods, it is a way of life.” Although we are not
suggesting that people are born anthropologists, it is more of an indication that the
characteristics of being an anthropologist cannot simply be taught. Rather, anthropology has to
be lived and experienced.

Being an anthropologist demands truthful commitment. The work of an anthropologist is neither

situation-bound nor separable from the anthropologist’s being. Since anthropologists become

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involved in the lives of people and their problems, sensitivity, humaneness, tolerance, empathy
and a good humour are characteristics which should ideally form part of an anthropologist’s
personality.

Applied anthropologists, quite simply, work with people and do this for the benefit of people and
for the love of what they are doing.

In this module, we explore what applied anthropologists do, and how they apply what they do to
solving human issues and problems within various fields of application to assist in making this
world a better place for us all.

2 OVERVIEW OF APY3702
2.1 Getting started

Because this is an online module, you will need to use myUnisa to access your study material
and complete the assessments for this module. Visit the website for APY3702 on myUnisa
frequently. The website for your module is APY3702-23-S1 or APY3702-23-S2.

2.2 Purpose of this module

The purpose of this module is to introduce you to the practice of applied anthropology and the
contribution and difference anthropology can make and has made in solving contemporary
human issues.

2.3 Outcomes

The outcomes of your study of this module are for you to be able to

• demonstrate the relevance and practical usefulness of anthropology

• explain the distinctive attributes of anthropology, which lend themselves to meaningful
and effective application to human issues and problems
• demonstrate how an informed and skilled anthropologist can make a significant
difference to the human condition in contemporary society

This module has two main objectives:

• It introduces you to the general history of anthropology and its application to human
problems, emphasising anthropology in an African context, and focusses on ethics and
its various practices. Here the focus is on helping you develop a better understanding
and appreciation of the anthropological methodological approaches and ethical
considerations in applied anthropological work.
• Secondly, this module will provide you with tools to examine yourself – your fundamental
beliefs, skills and abilities. This course will help you begin to critically question the
readings and behaviour that is normally taken for granted.

Lastly, the department of anthropology and archaeology at Unisa considers student to be new
members of the community of anthropologists, who are thus held to the high ethical standards
of practicing professionals.

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3 LECTURER(S) AND CONTACT DETAILS

3.1 Lecturer(s)

The primary lecturer for this module is Ms Jackey Wouters (NOT AVAILABLE DURING 2023
because I am on Research & Development leave):

LECTURERS TEACHING APY3702 DURING 2023:

Mr Lesiba Phahladira

Department: Anthropology & Archaeology

E-mail: [Link]@[Link]

Mr Paseka Pharumele

Department: Anthropology & Archaeology

Telephone: 012 429 3372
E-mail: epharups@[Link]

3.2 Department

You can contact the Departmental administrator of Anthropology & Archaeology as follows:

Telephone: 012 429 6418

E-mail: Ms Ayanda Thamana: thamaaj@[Link]

4 RESOURCES
4.1 Joining myUnisa

As you will most probably know by now, the myUnisa learning management system is the
University's online campus which will help you communicate with your lecturers, with other
students and with the administrative departments at Unisa.

To go to the myUnisa website directly, go to [Link] Click on the Claim UNISA

Login on the top of the screen on the myUnisa website. You will then be prompted to give your
student number in order to claim your initial myUnisa details as well as your myLife e-mail login
details. For more information on myUnisa, consult the brochure Study @ Unisa, which is
available on myUnisa at [Link]/brochures/studies.

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4.2 Recommended books

Not applicable – only prescribed readings which are available on the myUnisa site.

4.3 Electronic reserves (e-reserves)

E-reserves can be downloaded from the Library catalogue. More information is available at:
[Link]

4.4 myUnisa tools

The main tool that we will use is the Lessons tool. This tool will provide the content of and the
assessments for your module. At times you will be directed to join discussions with fellow
students and complete activities and assessments before you can continue with the module.
It is very important that you log in to myUnisa regularly. We recommend that you log in at least
once a week to do the following:

• Check for new announcements. You can also set your myLife e-mail account so that
you receive the announcement e-mails on your cell phone.
• Do the Discussion Forum activities. When you do the activities for each learning unit,
we want you to share your answers with the other students in your group. You can read
the instructions and even prepare your answers offline, but you will need to go online to
post your messages. We have also provided a Social Cafe where you can socialise with
the other students in the module.
• Do other online activities. For some of the learning unit activities you might need to
post something on the Blog tool, take a quiz or complete a survey under the Self-
Assessment tool. Do not skip these activities because they will help you complete the
assignments and the activities for the module.

We hope that giving you extra ways to study the material and practise all of the activities, will
help you succeed in this module on Applied Anthropology. To get the most out of the online
module, you MUST go online regularly to complete the activities and assignments on time.

5 CONCLUSION
Do not hesitate to contact us by e-mail if you are experiencing problems with the content of this
tutorial matter or with any academic aspect of the module.

We wish you a fascinating and satisfying journey through the learning material and trust that
you will complete the module successfully.

Enjoy the journey!

Jackey Wouters
Compiler of this module with acknowledgement to the predecessors’ contributions
DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY & ARCHAEOLOGY

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APY3702 LESSONS: APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY

PART ONE: THE PRINCIPLES OF APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY

Lesson 1: HISTORICAL CONTEXTUALISATION OF APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY

FRAMEWORK

1. Introduction
2. Development of applied anthropology
3. Historical context of anthropology and the application of anthropology in Africa
Prescribed reading 1: Introduction: histories of Training, Ethnographies of Practice (2019), by
Mwenda Ntarangwi
4. Challenges of applied anthropology in Africa
Prescribed reading 2: The anthropology of Africa: Challenges for the 21st Century (2015) by Paul
Nkwi
5. Concluding self-evaluation activities

LESSON OUTCOMES

After working through this lesson, you should be able to do the following:

• Trace the historical development of applied anthropology.

• Discuss the historical development of applied anthropology in Africa.
• Discuss the challenges of applied anthropology in Africa.
• Discuss Applied Anthropological Associations that emerged in the previous century and have
become international organisations promoting human-centred work in bringing successful
solutions to communities, organisations and policymakers worldwide.

KEY TERMS
Applied anthropology, engaged anthropology

KEY ABBREVATIONS

AAA: American Anthropological Association

ASnA: Anthropology Southern Africa
CODESRIA: Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa
NAPA: National Association for the Application of Anthropology
PAAA: Pan African Association for Anthropology
SfAA: Society for Applied Anthropology
WCAA: World Council for Anthropological Associations

1. INTRODUCTION

Applied anthropology is the application of anthropological knowledge, methodology and theoretical

approaches to assist in the alleviation of contemporary human issues such as social, economic, health,
environment, technological or educational problems faced by communities or organisations in our fast

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and ever-changing global society (Kedia & Van Willigen 2005:341, 2007:1). It is important to note that in
a number of readings about applied anthropology, authors also refer to applied anthropology as engaged
anthropology (Kirsch 2018:1,18). In this lesson, we provide a brief overview of applied anthropology’s
historical development in its western origins and in an African context.

2. DEVELOPMENT OF APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY

This is a very comprehensive topic, which cannot be discussed in one lesson or even one module. We,
therefore, give you just a short overview of the development of applied anthropology, enabling you to
gain an understanding of the historical roots of this discipline.

People’s increasing interest in culture – that of their own communities and those of other communities
worldwide – eventually led to the emergence of anthropology in western Europe and America in the early
and mid-1800s (Silitoe 2006:2). In Europe, the need for the application of anthropology grew out of a
desire by a faction of the British ethnographical societies who were dealing with humanitarian issues.
The faction of anthropologists that broke away wanted to apply their knowledge by becoming actively
involved in the abolition of slavery and in securing better futures for the aborigines (Kedia & Van Willigen
2007:3).

Anthropology in its early years was strongly influenced into the wider intellectual and sociocultural milieu
of colonialism. It was born out of a Eurocentric perspective, which has tainted it for decades (Kedia &
Van Willigen 2007:5). This was of course not only true for anthropology, but for all disciplines that were
born out of ‘the social and phenomenological’ contexts of their founders. Anthropology and much of what
was being written at this time was funded and organised by agencies, such as the colonial
administrations of Africa and Oceania, with a vested interest in applying anthropological data (Ntarangwi
2019:442; Van Willigen 2002:21,23). For instance, the first university chair for anthropology established
in Cape Town in 1921, Alfred Radcliffe-Brown, set out to study African languages and culture for
application in the administration of the South African population (Ntarangwi 2006:23; Silitoe 2006:6).

An institutional base for anthropology was developed in London, which focussed on the British colonies
in Africa in 1926. This led to the establishment of the International Institute of African Languages and
Cultures with support from the Rockefeller Foundation and British African colonial governments, to
promote the application of scientific knowledge to address social issues. This Institute was perceived as
one of the landmarks for applied anthropology. The Institute published a journal entitled Africa and a
monograph series. It encouraged scientific research into new topics and aimed at the application of
scientific knowledge to find solutions to problems experienced in health, education and welfare, and to
assist in developing a more efficient and humane colonial administration (Silitoe 2006:6). Bronislaw
Malinowski published his views on applied work in an article entitled ‘Practical anthropology’ in volume
two of Africa in 1929. In this paper, he stated the role the Institute could play in bridging the gap and
becoming a “central exchange for practical and theoretical interests” (Malinowski 1929:22).

In 1937, another body was instituted with similar aims as above: the Rhodes-Livingstone Institute in
Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), which upon Zambia’s independence was incorporated as the Institute
for African Studies into the University of Zambia. The University of London Institute of Education
coordinated requests from colonial governments and other stakeholders such as mining companies for
research to be done by anthropologists to find solutions to emerging problems related to urban growth,
labour migration and industrialisation (Tembo 2014:90,97-98)

In America, at the end of the 19th century, Franz Boas, a German immigrant with a doctorate in
geography and great interest in culture, history and indigenous people, laid the foundations of
professional anthropology. He became the first anthropology professor at the Columbia University and is
known as the father of American anthropology. Importantly, he extended his scientist’s role, as a moral
obligation, to apply his knowledge to human problems particularly in the area of race relations, thereby
providing a model for anthropology as a humanitarian science which should contribute to ensuring a
better world for all people. His initial work focussed on European immigrant children. Much of his applied
work in human relations was dedicated to challenging the racial and cultural prejudices of the time
(Kedia & Van Willigen 2007:4).

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World War II was a significant time for the rapid development of applied anthropology in America.
Anthropologists became involved in policy research and implementation in a wide range of areas,
including the National Research Council's Committee on Food Habits and the Office of War Information's
Committee for National Morale, conducted national character studies on the adversaries of that time, i.e.,
the Germans, Italians and Japanese. Mead estimated that “over ninety-five percent of American
anthropologists were involved with work in support of the war effort.” (Ferraro, Andreatta & Holdsworth
2014:54; Kedia & Van Willigen 2007:6)

The Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA) was founded in 1941 at Harvard University and marked the
first step toward a professional identity and the recognition of the role anthropology could play in the
solution of contemporary issues and problems including policy formation. Two of the founding members
were the well-known anthropologists Margaret Mead and Ruth Benedict. In the editorial of the first issue
of its journal Applied Anthropology (1941), the Society for Applied Anthropology stated its aims as:

“The solution of practical problems of human relations in the fields of business and political
administration, psychiatry, social work and wherever else human relations play a part. It is based
upon the premise that a science of human relations can only be developed if theories are tested
in practice” (Applied Anthropology, 1(1):1 cited by Foster 1969:205).

Today, the Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA) has become an international organisation and
sponsors two applied anthropological journals, namely Human organization and Practicing
Anthropology. You can read more about SfAA at About : Society for Applied Anthropology

Another well-known professional group of applied anthropologists was established in 1983, namely the
National Association for the Practice of Anthropology (NAPA). They function as a unit of the American
Anthropological Association (AAA) (NAPA 2022).

Today, the National Association for the Practice of Anthropology (NAPA) sponsors the peer- reviewed
journal Annals of Anthropological Practice. You can read more about NAPA at The National
Association for the Practice of Anthropology - NAPA ([Link]).
([Link]

In the post-World War II era anthropologists started to reflect critically upon their involvement in the war.
Overall, this led to a greater emphasis on self-censure and reflection in the discipline, and emphasis on
ethically correct approaches in the field of applied anthropology. Since then, the American
Anthropological Association has spoken out strongly against the application of anthropology in war
zones and for military intelligence. Overall, it was stated, that anthropology should never be applied to
the potential detriment of the people concerned (Kottak 2019:246).

The post-war era was characterised by political and social upheavals and the European colonial
domination started to wane across the world. This led to changes in the western perception of the world,
which created a new need for the application of anthropology. Anthropologists started to become
involved in advocacy for marginalised communities to assist with self-determination and autonomy. This
transformation led to the gradual rejection of the value-implicit approach (Kedia & Van Willigen 2007:7-
8).

Criticism of anthropological practice throughout the colonial period and the World War II endorsed the
need for analysis of the structural aspects of power relations. From the 1960s, a radical criticism of
applied anthropology of the past was mounting, stemming mainly from the accusation of anthropologists’
complicity with and failure to analyse the asymmetrical structural relations of colonial dominance and
exploitation of the Third World and the subsequent development of a strong interest in Marxist theory
and analysis (Ntarangwi 2006:5-6; Nkwi 2015:x).

In addition, the new roles for applied anthropologists as researchers, activists, advocates, participators
and implementers in various projects and sociocultural change programmes led to increasing critical

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awareness of the accompanying ethics, moral values, social responsibility, and monolithic Eurocentric
epistemologies.

Contemporary applied anthropology aims to shed its exploitative colonial cloak and overriding emphasis
on western epistemological traditions and emerges to find suitable solutions to problems and social
issues of the human condition both at home and in communities worldwide. As Onyango-Ouma, quoted
by Ntarangwi (2006:28), said: “We cannot ignore the critiques levelled against anthropology but nor can
we refute its usefulness”.

At Unisa, curriculum transformation is an ongoing process. This transformation process includes moving
beyond the monolithic western discourses and the infusion of African epistemologies and philosophies.
One of the approaches to the decolonial transformation process is that of Walter Mignolo (González
Garcia 2006:38): “a collaborative horizon of pluriversality”, which in an applied anthropological context
would mean using the strengths of multiple ways of knowing and knowledges to address complex
challenges in ways that benefit all.

3. HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF ANTHROPOLOGY AND THE APPLICATION OF ANTHROPOLOGY IN

AFRICA

Note: When you are working through the prescribed readings, it is always important to familiarise
yourself with the author(s) background so that you can gain a deeper understanding of the author’s
message and can contextualise the discussed topic. In Lesson 1, a short biography is given of the
authors’ academic backgrounds. In the other lessons you will have to do this yourself.

Prof Mwenda Ntarangwi has served as the Secretary and CEO of Commission for University Education
(CUE) in Kenya since September 2017. He holds a doctorate in anthropology from the University of
Illinois and MA and BEd degrees from Kenyatta University, Kenya. He has held academic positions at
the Kenyatta University, Egerton University and St Lawrence University in Kenya, the University of Illinoi
in, USA, University of Bayreuth in Germany, Augustana College in Illinois and Calvin University in
Michigan, USA. He is widely published on the practice of anthropology, popular culture, youth and
African Christianity (Ntarangwi, 2022). It is on the history and practice of anthropology in an African
context that his following article is based:

Prescribed reading 1 (available on the APY3702 site under the Prescribed readings icon in your
dashboard):
Ntarangwi, Mwenda. 2019. “African participation in, and perspectives on, the politics of knowledge
production in Africanist Anthropology.” In A Companion to the Anthropology of Africa, edited by Stephen
C Lubkemann, Christopher B Steiner, Roy Richard Grinker & Euclides Goncalves. Oxford: John Wiley &
Sons, Inc.:439-454.

To guide you through the prescribed reading, answer the following questions:

• Discuss the pros and cons of the impact of digitalisation/mass media on anthropological
representation (p.440).
• Discuss two examples given by Ntarangwi (2019) that explain the problematics of writing and
representation (pp.439-441).
• Discuss the reasons why African anthropologists were disappointed with anthropology. Illustrate your
discussion with specific reference to Archie Mafeje (pp.444-445).
• Discuss Ntarangwi’s (2019) perception of anthropology and colonialism (pp.445-446).
• Discuss the complex relationship between some of the leading African presidents and anthropology
(pp.446-448).
• Discuss the estranged relationship between African and western scholars of anthropology (pp.449-
450).
• Why does Ntarangwi (2019) perceive anthropology as relevant in Africa? (pp.451-453).
• Explain how anthropology can have a successful future in Africa (pp.453-454).

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4. CHALLENGES OF APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY IN AFRICA

Again, we give you a little background information on Prof Paul Nchoji Nkwi. He was a professor of
African anthropology at the University of Yaounde, Cameroon. After his retirement he became Deputy
Vice Chancellor of the Catholic University of Cameroon, Bamenda. During his academic career he also
taught anthropology at the Catholic University of Central Africa, the University of Yaounde and at the St
Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary Bambui, Bamenda, Cameroon. He was a visiting professor at Harvard
Medical School, University of South Carolina, University of Columbia, University of Frankfurt in Germany,
Rhodes University in South Africa, University of Leiden in the Netherlands and Research Fellow at the
University of Bergen, Norway. His interest in the development of anthropology in Africa resulted in him
being the founding president of the Pan African Anthropological Association (PAAA) (Cameroon: Prof.
Nchoji Paul Nkwi – Giant in Academic, Political Circles, 2022).

The Pan African Anthropological Association (PAAA) sponsored the peer-reviewed journal The African
Anthropologist. Articles published in this journal can be viewed at AfricaBib | Search results. Today the
PAAA is part of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA).
See The African Anthropologist - CODESRIA.

Interesting fact: Look at the information about the World Council of Anthropological Associations
(WCAA) at History - WCAA ([Link]). The Chair of the WCAA is currently Prof Isaac Nyamongo
(2021–present) from the University of Nairobi, Kenya and it is associated with the Pan African
Anthropological Association.

Note that Anthropology Southern Africa (ASnA) also sponsors its own peer-reviewed journal, named
Anthropology Southern Africa. They occasionally publish applied anthropological articles/studies. You
can visit its website at Home ([Link]).

Prof Nkwi’s main interests covered social change in local cultures because of modernisation, politics,
history and applied anthropology, with a specific interest in health and environmental issues. The
following reading concerns his views on the challenges for applied anthropology in Africa for the 21st
century.

Prescribed reading 2 (available on the APY3702 site under the Prescribed readings icon in your
dashboard):

Nkwi, Nchoji. 2015. “Introduction: The Anthropology of Africa: Challenges for the 21st Century:
Introduction.” In The Anthropology of Africa: Challenges for the 21st Century, edited by Nchoji Nkwi.
Cameroon: LANGAA RPCIG:ix-xiii.

Note that Langaa RPCIG is the publisher of this article and promotes African scholarship.

Answer the following questions to guide you through the prescribed reading:

• What does Nkwi (2015) indicate as the main problem hindering Africanisation of development?

• What are the author’s suggestions on how to make anthropology and so applied anthropology
relevant in an African context?

• Critically discuss why many African anthropology students became Marxist anthropologists during
the 1970s and 1980s.

• Explain why Nkwi (2015) perceives applied anthropology as an ‘inevitable option for African

11
 anthropologists working in Africa’.

• Name ten to twelve of the human issues identified by the author that cannot be ignored by
anthropology.

• Do you agree with Nkwi (2015) that applied anthropology has a vital role to play in the future of
Africa? Explain.

[Link] self-evaluation activities

The history of applied anthropology indicates that despite its inception and the proliferation of its practice
during the administration of colonialism, anthropologists have from their earliest practice of the discipline
sensed the importance of applying anthropology for the benefits of humanity. There, however, is a need
for a decolonised ethical and humanitarian anthropology to ensure the continuation of contemporary
applied anthropology.

Activity 1.1
The aim of applied anthropology is to be a humanitarian, relevant and moral discipline. We regard it as
philosophy in action with wide application to practical problems.

Consider the above statement and type/jot down your responses to the following questions:

• Explain what applied anthropology is about.

• Explain the impact of colonialism on applied anthropology
• How relevant do you think applied anthropology is in the current world?
• What do you think it would mean to be an applied anthropologist?
• How do you think applied anthropology can contribute to breaking cycles of misunderstanding and
ignorance?

Activity 1.2
Reflect on the development of applied anthropology – how early anthropology focussed on gathering
data on a community’s way of life in general to its later realisation that those same communities have
various problems related to their specific circumstances.

What you need to take away from this lesson is the background to practising anthropology as a means
of engaging with the everyday problems faced by many people and communities worldwide. No
community is untouched by its wider global environment. As anthropologists, even when doing general
research, we are faced with appeals to assist the communities where we do our research. It behoves us
as ethical and compassionate anthropologists to apply our knowledge and skills in helping to solve
problems and address wrongs where we find them.

You will find your views on applied anthropology develop as your work through the lessons and the
prescribed readings of this module.

Activity 1.3
In today’s day and age, we can find most academic scholarly sources, including associations, online. It
is important to familiarise yourself with online sources. When searching for academic sources (articles
and books), remember to use Google Scholar.

• See if you can find any other applied anthropological associations than SfAA and NAPA online and
list them in your notes for future reference.

• Find applied anthropological associations on Twitter, Facebook, etc and familiarise yourself with the
information shared with members for possible use in your assignments.

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Lesson 2: THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

FRAMEWORK

1. Introduction
2. The anthropological approach
2.1 Holism
2.2 Encompassing range of interest
2.3 Comparative perspective
2.4 Sociocultural systems (versus ethnocentrism)
2.5 Sociocultural relativism
2.6 Fieldwork
3. The anthropological difference
3.1 Credibility in a contemporary world
3.2 The anthropological perspective
4. Concluding self-evaluation activities

LESSON OUTCOMES

After working through this lesson, you should be able to do the following:

• Evaluate the important characteristics of the anthropological approach with reference to applied
anthropology.
• Assess the difference that applied anthropology can make in solving sociocultural problems.

KEY TERMS
Holism, encompassing range of interest, comparative perspective, sociocultural systems, sociocultural
relativism, ethnocentrism, emic and etic perspective, fieldwork

1. INTRODUCTION

In this lesson, we will consider the principles of the anthropological perspective that are applied to
solving human issues: in essence, the anthropological approach that makes the anthropological
difference.

2. THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL APPROACH

Anthropology brings to any human context a set of special perspectives. The different perspectives not
only serve as guidelines for the research anthropologists but are also the principles that shape their
academic values and upon which they base their activities in their work environment.

2.1 Holism

Anthropology is characterised by a wide and comprehensive view of humankind within particular social
or cultural situations. The term “holism” is often used to describe the anthropological perspective, which
entails studying us as human beings and our activities in the fullest possible context, including for
instance, history, religion, politics, economy, environment, education, and healthcare. In respect of
applied anthropology, the anthropological principle of holism is linked to the recognition that sociocultural
changes do not occur in isolation or a vacuum, but impact on every aspect of the sociocultural system.
Hence, applied anthropologists give great importance to a holistic perspective on the human condition
(Kottak 2019:83; Nelson 2020:14-15).

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2.2 Encompassing range of interest

In a sense, this is an extension of the principle of holism mentioned above. Anthropologists study any
kind of sociocultural system across the globe, whether in the remotest countryside or in a complex
industrial environment. Thus, anthropology may be applied, for instance, to peasant agricultural
practices, industrial work relations, in education, project administration, healthcare, tourism, law
enforcement, within peaceful communities and during times of hostility. In fact, whenever people interact,
anthropology has a useful contribution to make (Hill 2012:12).

In business and industry, for example, anthropologists may help improve employee morale, motivation
and, eventually, productivity, by improving interpersonal communication and by breaking down
egocentric and ethnocentric biases, stereotypes and the preconceived perceptions that individuals often
have of each other. Expertise in the area of human issues and problems teaches us more about possible
solutions to human issues in varying contexts (Nelson 2020:16).

2.3 The comparative perspective

The abovementioned principles lead anthropologists to generalise by making comparisons between

people in a given group, community or society and across groups, communities, societies worldwide. In
other words, anthropologists compare sociocultural systems to learn about the common principles of
human existence, how we differ and how humanity’s ways of living changes. Anthropologists also work
outside their own community, area or country, gaining in-depth knowledge of differing regions, people
and sociocultural systems and are sensitised to different values and lifestyles.

In addition, by learning about different lifestyles and cultural perspectives we can gain a deeper
understanding of ourselves and fellow human beings on this planet. With knowledge of the unfamiliar it
also becomes easier to understand the familiar. Moreover, this knowledge can be of great value to help
us solve contemporary human problems (Hill 2012:12; Kottak 2019:83; Nelson 2020:16).

2.4 Sociocultural systems

Sociocultural systems refer to the systems of a group of people, for example, religion, economy,
education, health, politics, etc. The study of sociocultural systems is a fundamental focus in anthropology
and for this reason generations of anthropologists have gone to great lengths to develop a workable and
acceptable definition for the word 'culture'. While we do not dwell on the history or diversity of definitions
of culture in this module, we do present and abide by a particular perspective of culture. It is a
perspective that, we believe, not only lends itself to an analysis of sociocultural change and an
understanding of applied anthropology but is logical and feasible as well (Hill 2012:12).

The preoccupation of some anthropologists with the concept of culture and the study of culture (as they
saw it) has unfortunately led them to lose sight of the people. We conceive culture, however, to be at the
ideational level, and the ideas of individuals may either remain on that level or be expressed in material
or behavioural form. Individuals interacting with each other and with their sociocultural and physical
environments generate sociocultural systems. Sets of relationships established by interacting individuals
in a particular sociocultural and natural context may become repetitive and, hence, constitute a pattern.
Should this become the behaviour pattern for a significant number of people, it may constitute part of
what we may call their culture. People who share similar ideas and, hence, behaviour patterns and
sociocultural systems, may be identified as belonging to the same self-identified group (Hill 2012:13).

2.5 Sociocultural relativism (versus ethnocentrism)

Anthropologists try to understand different sociocultural systems in their own contexts and on their own
merits rather than from their own personal perspective. This insider’s perspective is also referred to as
the emic perspective. This sensitivity for different ways of life (cultures) and a recognition of sociocultural
relativism implies that an anthropologist considers human behaviour in terms of that particular
community’s own particular set of circumstances and historical development rather than their own, but it
does not mean that anthropologists will refrain from giving their considered opinion or even their critical

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assessment, if it is in the best interests of the people concerned. The outsider’s perspective is also
referred to as the etic perspective (Hill 2012:13; Nelson 2020:15).

Ethnocentrism is the opposite of sociocultural relativism, meaning that you perceive your own ways of
living as most correct. Many people around the world are a bit ethnocentric because your own way of
living is what you are used to and what is perceived as normal. The problem is when people think their
ways of living are superior to everybody else’s ways of living (Nelson 2020:15).

2.6 Fieldwork

Anthropology has also brought a useful perspective to the social sciences as regards research. Ideally,
the anthropologist prefers to be the instrument of research, and this is achieved when fieldwork (as
opposed to experimental research or survey research) is done. Fieldwork refers to how anthropologists
conduct their research, namely in the communities, organisations or groups they are studying.
Anthropological fieldwork entails intensive interviewing and participant observation, that is, the collection
of qualitative data by means of first-hand experience and observation of human activities in their normal
and natural context. The ideal is also to see the world through the eyes and perspectives of the people
themselves (Hill 2012:13; Nelson 2020:16).

The above perspectives not only serve as guidelines for the research anthropologists do — the
anthropological approach — but are also the principles that shape their academic values and upon which
they base their activities in the application and practice of their discipline.

3. THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL DIFFERENCE

The difference anthropology makes is recognised not only by its record of applications but also by the
actual practice of anthropology.

3.1 Credibility in a contemporary world

The anthropological contribution to contemporary human issues and the difference it brings to various
fields of application rest upon its validity, relevance and reliability, its record of success and the extent of
its application in diverse projects and programmes.

The reliability of anthropological approach is evident in the difference that is made to solving issues in a
wide range of domains and fields of application. These include anthropologists working for both non-
government agencies (NGOs) and government organisations, the private sector as administrators,
evaluators and policy analysts, for instance (Podolefsky & Brown 2001:1).

The evidence of the difference made by the anthropological approach is apparent in the vast and varied
areas of anthropological application. Although, as De Jongh suggests in his paper entitled Deconstruct,
self-destruct or reconstruct: the state of anthropology in Southern Africa (2002:2) on the contemporary
practice of anthropology in Southern Africa, “it is sometimes difficult to judge by the “labels” provided.”

The practice of anthropology in South Africa covers a range of conventional, topical, local and global
issues that entail practical or policy or development research. These include topics such as housing,
sociocultural impact studies, economic development, environment, indigenous knowledge systems (IKS),
traditional authority, migration and relocation, social construction of the past, land claims, identity,
minorities, childhood and gender studies, children in distress, anthropology of suffering, criminal and
political violence, tourism, human rights, advocacy, etc. (De Jongh 2002:2).

The contemporary relevance of this range of interest and expertise contributes to the validity and
reliability of applied anthropology, which in turn contribute to acknowledging the difference that
anthropology can make.

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3.2 The anthropological perspective

In the above section we outlined how and where anthropology makes a difference. Here, we suggest
why anthropology makes a difference. Quite simply, the difference is made by the anthropologist’s
knowledge; training and approach to problem solving that contribute to the success of a particular
activity; that is, the anthropological perspective. The characteristic principles whereby the applied
anthropologist operates, provide an altogether different, original and meaningful way of approaching
human issues and finding solutions to sociocultural problems.

Holism, intensive fieldwork, a comprehensive perspective on the sociocultural system and sociocultural
relativism, as well as the awareness of the relevance of knowledge of differences between groups,
communities and societies and an encompassing range of interests, are the applied anthropologist's
principles of research and of formulating programmes for context-specific sociocultural change. The
essence of the anthropological difference is that these principles allow the anthropologist to come into
contact with people (research participants or community for whom a project is being planned) on a
personal level. For this contact to be successful, the reciprocal relationship between the research
participants and the anthropologist(s) needs to be grown out of respect and trust.
The anthropological difference cannot be explained in abstract. It needs to be demonstrated in actual
practice and in the concluding assessment of the success of a programme, whether for poverty relief,
healthcare education, environmental policy, and so forth.

The actual practice of anthropology is contained in many of the prescribed readings.

4. Concluding self-evaluation activities

Activity 2.1
Studying is not just a matter of ‘reading’. The important thing is to think while your read.

• Write down a few key words while you are working through the material, as this will help you to focus
on the content and to make sense of the material instead of just skimming over the words. It will
encourage you to reflect on what you are reading.
• By adding your own notes to keywords you will avoid copying sentences, paragraphs, or sections
from the study guide.
• Attempting the activities helps you to bring your knowledge and ideas to the surface and to visualise
what you are studying in terms of actual realities.

Activity 2.2
After consulting a good encyclopaedia in social sciences, define and explain what is meant by the
following terms in assessing the difference anthropology can make:

• Anthropological credibility
• Anthropological validity
• Anthropological reliability
• Anthropological relevance

Activity 2.3
With reference to one of the listed prescribed readings:

a. Define the issue relevant to the prescribed reading.

b. Critically discuss how the anthropologist applied the characteristic anthropological approach to
investigating the issues.
c. Assess what was significant in the way in which the anthropologist made a difference in addressing
the human problems.

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• A folk model of malaria causation among the Abagussii of south-western Kenya: Implications for
malaria treatment by Nyamongo Isaac K (Lesson 9)
• Anthropology in the business world by McCurdy (Lesson 10)
• An anthropological study of ‘witch camps’ and human rights in northern Ghana by Saibu Mutara
(Lesson 11)

Activity 2.4
In considering your own community, the holistic perspective would include data on, for example, the
geographical environment, the religious centres, the schools, the healthcare facilities, the shops, and the
people associated with those establishments, as well as the practices conducted in the various centres.

In exemplifying anthropology’s wide range of interest, you might have included technological factors
such as the use of cellular phones and laptops on the one hand, and the participation in ceremonies or
the practice of customs on the other.

In terms of the comparative approach, you could have considered, for example, experiences of
institutions and practices in your neighbourhood to that of your grandparents living on a farm, in a village
in the countryside and maybe even in another country.

Sociocultural factors include everything thought of and made by people in a community context. People
have different ideas and customs, for instance about health, the ways people seek assistance in the
obtainment of health, methods of healing and ideas about medicine.

The matter of sociocultural relativism means you need to think about sociocultural circumstances and
activities from the member of that community’s point of view. For example, you do eat meat, but your
research participants are vegetarians because they have strong views against the abuse of animals in
slaughterhouses. You should avoid judging their beliefs because that would be ethnocentrism.

Fieldwork refers to how you went about gathering information (anthropological methodology). Because it
is your community, you automatically are doing participant observation; your interviews could have been
with family members, friends and neighbours, community leaders and anyone else who might contribute
valuable information that enriches your understanding of your community.

Activity 2.5
The concepts are closely related. In terms of anthropology making a difference when applied to issues
of the human condition, it means that the findings and the implementation of the anthropological
perspective can be observed in clear and quantifiable results. Add the notes you make for this activity to
those you make on the prescribed readings in subsequent lessons.

• Credibility: Evident in the broad and successful application of anthropology in, e.g., healthcare
(Lesson 9) and the business world (Lesson 10)
• Validity: Evident in actual case studies of successful projects and programmes using the
anthropological approach such as examples given in the prescribed reading Reflective practice and
anthropology in culturally diverse classrooms (Lesson 8)
• Reliability: Evident where the approach used in one context can be repeated/applied in another.
Make a comparison of the case studies described in Lesson 8’s prescribed reading in terms of
dealing with cross-cultural contexts and issues.
• Relevance: Evidence of the relevance of applied anthropology in addressing sociocultural problems
of the human condition is what this module is all about. You might have illustrated relevance by
referring to the issues, problems of the contemporary human condition in two or three different
domains of application.
You should consult the prescribed readings and refer to relevant illustrative details. In addition, you may
also find your own examples of applied anthropological projects.

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 Lesson 3: APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGICAL METHODOLOGY

FRAMEWORK

1. Introduction
2. Methodology of applied anthropology
3. Anthropological methods of data collection
3.1 Participant observation
3.2 Key-participants and (focus) group interviewing
3.3 Quantitative and technologically advanced data collection techniques
4. Concluding self-evaluation activities

LESSON OUTCOMES

After working through this lesson, you should be able to do the following:

• Evaluate the important characteristics of the anthropological approach with reference to applied
anthropology.
• Assess the difference that applied anthropology can make in solving sociocultural issues.

KEY TERMS
Qualitative methods, ethnography, participant observation, interviews, quantitative methods

1. INTRODUCTION

Methodology is dealt with in APY1501 and more comprehensively in APY3701. In APY3701,

anthropological methodology’s colonial origins and influences are explored and a move away from
western epistemology that produced colonialism is introduced as the way forward. We do not repeat all
of that information. In this lesson, we deal with two matters only:

• The purpose and sort of methodology used in applied anthropological practice

• The techniques and strategies particularly suitable and useful in applied contexts

2. METHODOLOGY OF APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY

Methodological expertise is one of the most important skills that anthropologists bring to practical and
applied situations. Collectively, anthropologists provide a wide range of data collecting experience,
working with human groupings in remote areas of the world to those in industrial cities.

The essence of anthropological methodology and its contribution to social sciences is fieldwork, where
the anthropologist is ‘the instrument of research’. This means the anthropologist obtains qualitative data
through first-hand experience and observation of human activities (participant observation) and in-depth
interviewing of people within their normal sociocultural context (so-called real-life situations). Unlike most
other social scientists involved with implementing sociocultural change, who use officials, available
documents and records to accumulate experimental or statistical information, anthropologists engage
with the people themselves. People not only provide pertinent data on their present conditions, but they
are involved in the plans and changes that will affect them (Bernard 2018:163, 272; Kottak 1994:321).

Anthropological methodology embraces the characteristic principles of the anthropological approach that
constitute researching a particular sociocultural system in a particular group, community or organisation
in terms of its own particular context. The qualitative nature of the applied anthropologist's work is
particularly useful, because good anthropological research, in which those being researched are
research participants, can correct misconceptions and misrepresentations of people's behaviour, needs
and intentions by providing the perspectives of people in their own ‘real-life' situation, from their own

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(emic) point of view. Importantly, recommendations stemming from such fieldwork can help to ensure
that context-sensitive and effective policies, plans and programmes are developed.

It is important to note that as Ntarangwi (2021: 273-279) explained, throughout anthropological fieldwork
the emphasis has to be on listening to the people concerned. This means the anthropologist has to have
thorough knowledge of the language spoken by those involved in the research. If this is not the case, the
final product will be distorted, and the assistance provided will most likely not achieve its intended
outcome.

3. ANTHROPOLOGICAL METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION

Originally, the word ‘ethnography’ derived from the Greek terms ‘ethno’ which refers to people, and
‘graphy’ to writing. The term ethnography in anthropology has a twofold meaning. First, it refers to
anthropological fieldwork methodology and entails prolonged involvement with the members of a
community or organisation to gain a thorough and holistic perspective of the people concerned.
Ethnography typically includes the qualitative methods of participant observation and in-depth, open-
ended interviews. Ethnography, however, is not exclusive to anthropology anymore. Other social
sciences such as psychology also make use of ethnography (Nelson 2020:16; Kedia & Van Willigen
2007:11).

Second, the written result of anthropological fieldwork logically integrated and analysed with relevant
theory is also known as an ethnography. As Nelson (2020:16) explained, anthropologists “do not write
‘novels’; rather, they write ethnographies.”

In this section, we discuss the anthropological research methodology most often used in an applied
context. The purpose of applied anthropological research is to acquire sound data of a particular group
or organisation’s sociocultural systems, for which some or other assistance, project, policy or programme
is intended. The anthropological qualitative approach, particularly in the form of ethnography, is
particularly suitable for applied work (Kedia & Van Willigen 2007:11). Participant observation,
observation, open-ended interviewing and detailed, often verbatim recording and reporting in narrative
style are what decision-makers have increasingly called upon anthropologists to become involved in.

3.1 Participant observation

Participant observation is by many perceived as the key research method of anthropology. It entails not
only observation of, but also participation in the activities of a group, being it either a community or
organisation you are part of or not (Bernard 2018:272).

Decision-makers in areas such as education, business and industry are not unfamiliar with obtaining
first-hand experience or information of people in their surroundings. This is done by means of ‘inspection
tours' and ‘site visits' to places where projects are under way or where programmes are running. The
step to ethnography in the participant observation sense is, therefore, quite logical to such people. The
distinction between ‘observing on site' and other authentic ethnography should be, however, clearly
drawn.

Anthropologists emphasise
• sociocultural contexts, which characterise anthropological work as opposed to simply using its
techniques
• the strategy of exploration rather than verification
• interpretation not just description
• specific focus on the people’s needs

Ethnography in general and participant observation in particular are not one-dimensional. It is

multidimensional. It does not function through preconceived and one-directional procedures.

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A number of methods and techniques are used, for example:
• Different forms of observation may be employed, from complete involvement and participation to
more casual, unobtrusive monitoring of activities and events.
• Different approaches to interviewing may be adopted.
• Location settings may be mapped.
• Genealogies may be drawn.
• Biographical information may be traced (Kottak 2014:41).

The anthropologist’s approach to fieldwork is flexible so as to engage with the events of people’s daily
lives as they normally unfold and to experience the natural rhythm of a group, community or organisation
in gathering data.

3.2 Key-participants and (focus) group interviewing

• Interviewing of research participants is also a key research method in anthropology. Interviews

can range from formal interviews that are highly structured to the more preferred way of
unstructured and even informal interviews that continue all the time and wherever people are
active, e.g., while walking to work, socialising at an event or even while working (Barnard
2018:163).

Although anthropologists often use quite strict guidelines for selecting research participants, more
flexible measures are more appropriate for applied work.

Prominent and knowledgeable individuals are likely to know much about the community, for instance:
community leaders, government administrative officials, outsiders who, through long and intensive
involvement with an organisation or group, have become well informed, and persons who have become
conversant with particular areas of activity (e.g. politics, religion, education or food production).

The affected people provide the most important information. The conventional anthropological inclination
to go to the people at grassroots level produces the best results. The opinions of those directly involved
are the most important and most useful. For example: members of a faction in a conflict situation, the
poor in an informal settlement, street children, factory workers and those due to be provided with medical
treatment or healthcare facilities.

The nature of a research project will, of course, determine who to ask to be research participants, and as
participant observation progresses suitable individuals will increasingly present themselves.

• Focus or other group interviews may be seen as an extension of individual interviews. Such a
group is usually identified because the individuals share the same interests, knowledge or
characteristics. The value of interviews with focus or other groups is that participants immediately
contradict or corroborate information provided — important insights are gained with regard to
disagreements or perceptual variations within a particular group or sociocultural context (Kedia &
Van Willigen 2007:12).

For applied research, focus group interviews are particularly useful for needs assessments, programme
evaluations and social impact assessments in community or organisational contexts.

3.3 Quantitative and technologically advanced data collection techniques

Decision-makers expect applied anthropologists to produce direct and quantified results. Data are
regarded as valid and acceptable if they can be measured. Qualitative results are thus often supported
by the use of objective and formal methods and by statistics. For example:

• Surveys and statistics are freely used by anthropologists in the forms of survey research, social
indicators (statistics reflecting age, gender, income ranges, residential mobility, etc).

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• Triangulation is the use of more than one method to confirm results.

• Questionnaires provide a ‘screen' of a much larger sample against which to project data obtained
through qualitative means from a smaller, but intensively studied, number of individuals which
can be done via online surveys, WhatsApp groups, etc.
• Statistical software such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can be used to map sites
(Kedia & Van Willigen 2007:13; Kedia & Bennett 2005:12).

4. Concluding self-evaluation activities

Activity 3.1
Apply the anthropological research methodology to an investigation within you home or work
environment. Keep a diary of your experiences, what you have done and record the dates and times of
your activities. Working in your environment has a number of possible advantages:
• It is a kind of participant observation suitable for modern, complex, especially urban communities.
• It serves as an opportunity for you not only to learn about anthropology, but also to practise
anthropology and to think like an anthropologist.
Follow up your research by analysing your data and making notes, which you can use in discussing
anthropological methodology in answering an assignment question.

Activity 3.2
Critically discuss the methodology used in prescribed reading 9: A folk model of malaria causation
among the Abagussi of South-western Kenya: Implications for malaria treatment (2015) by Isaac K
Nyamongo presented in Lesson 9.

Formulate a title from the question and use the different parts of the question as headings for your
notes on one or more of the listed prescribed readings. Remember, when dealing with prescribed
reading, you should not make notes on the entire extract. Be highly selective to find elements from the
literature that answer a question. Since the question asks you to critically discuss, look for the pros and
cons of the anthropological methodology so you can express your own ideas and evaluate the
effectiveness of the methodology. If necessary, or to substantiate your discussion, compare the
methodologies used in some of the other prescribed readings.

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 Lesson 4: APPLYING ANTHROPOLOGY/ROLES OF APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGISTS

FRAMEWORK

1. Introduction
2. Anthropology and contemporary human issues
3. Domains of the applied anthropologists
4. Roles of applied anthropologists
5. Concluding self-evaluation activities

LESSON OUTCOMES

After working through this lesson, you should be able to do the following:

• Explain what anthropologists mean by contemporary human issues and problems.

• Critically assess the expertise and experience anthropologist possesses to contribute to solving
contemporary human issues and problems.
• Identify possible domains of applied anthropologists.
• Differentiate the roles in which anthropologists may apply their skills.

KEY TERMS
Policy researcher, evaluator, impact assessor, planner, needs assessor, trainer, advocate, expert
witness, administrator/manager, cultural broker, public participant, research analyst, change agent,
activist or action anthropologist

1. INTRODUCTION

So far in our study of this module, we have explored the distinctive attributes of anthropology, which lend
themselves to meaningful and effective application to human issues and problems. Problem solving
entails bringing some form of sociocultural change to the affected community or people. Anthropologists
involve themselves in problem solving and sociocultural change with the aim of improving living
conditions by finding solutions that are acceptable, appropriate and sustainably effective through the
characteristic anthropological perspective and methodology.

In this lesson, we explore applied anthropologists’ involvement in contemporary human issues by

considering some of the domains and roles of applied anthropologists.

2. ANTHROPOLOGY AND CONTEMPORARY HUMAN ISSUES

In essence, applied anthropology is issue-centred research. That is, the anthropologist investigates a
problem, for instance: what is necessary for the design of a sustainable and effective development
programme, investigating the impact of the mining industry on the life of communities, issues
experienced by learners in a multicultural/linguistic school, severe economic poverty in a community,
more effective prevention of rapidly spreading infectious diseases, organisational problems in a
business. Anthropologists are also involved in more politicised and contentious issues such as human
rights, advocacy for the less powerful, and the even more ideologically driven issues of social and
political inequities and violence. For teaching purposes, we have organised several applied
anthropological examples in different domains or fields of anthropology in Part 2.

The anthropological perspective and approach of intensive and extensive involvement with people
consistently provides a comprehensive database. The use, furthermore, of qualitative methodology, a
holistic perspective, an inclination to view the human condition from multiple angles, are of great
importance firstly from that of the people themselves which enables anthropologists to effectively explore

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and endeavour to find solutions to human problems. In addressing human issues and problems,
anthropologists apply their knowledge and skills in a great variety of domains.

3. DOMAINS OF THE APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGIST

The following list, though not all inclusive, mentions the fields in which anthropology can be applied:

Agriculture Health and medicine

Alcohol and drug use Housing
Community action Human rights, racism and genocide
Criminal justice and law enforcement Industry and business
Cultural resource management Land use and land claims
Design and architecture Language and action
Development policies and practices Mass media and broadcasting
Disaster research Military
Economic development Nutrition
Education and schools Policy making
Employment and labour Population and demography
Energy extraction Recreation
Environment Religious Expression
Evaluation Social impact assessment
Fishery research Training programs
Forestry and forests Urban development
Geriatric services Water resources development
Government and administration Wildlife management
(Kedia & Van Willigen 2007:2)

4. Roles of applied anthropologists

Anthropologists active in the applied environments mentioned above might operate in one or a
combination of designated roles. The following list of roles is probably the most useful and
comprehensive:

• Policy researcher provides research information upon which policy makers base their decisions.
Policy researchers look at the way decisions are made within a particular sociocultural context.
The purpose of such research is to ensure that, for instance, a healthcare or education policy fits
the affected people.
• Evaluator applies his or her research skills to determine whether a project, programme or policy
is effective or successful.
• Impact assessor is involved in sociocultural impact assessment. The anthropologist's aim is to
determine and predict the effects of a planned community project, such as the construction of a
dam on agricultural land, or a shopping mall in a residential area.
• Planner participates in the design of future programmes, projects and policies.
• Needs assessor conducts research amongst the public or within a community to determine the
needs for a project or program design, for example for social, health, economic and education
programmes.
• Trainer frequently involves training and preparing individuals to function in unfamiliar
sociocultural contexts. An example is cultural diversity training for Peace Corps volunteers or
international businesspeople.
• Advocate acts in support of a group or a community. An anthropological advocate speaks out
publicly on behalf of a community or group of people, usually the less powerful, to redress some
form of injustice.
• Expert witness acts on behalf of a party in a legal case and it may involve the presentation of
research data in the form of briefs or testimony.

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 • Administrator/manager is directly involved in and responsible for the administration of the
project of which he or she is a part.
• Cultural broker is a two-way communication role. The anthropologist is the link between an
agency and the local community. This role is particularly useful in the provision of health care or
social services.
• Public participation specialist is similar to the role of the culture broker. This role involves
participation in public affairs by activating public involvement in planning, for instance, education
programmes.
• Research analyst interprets research results for decision-makers.
• Change agent is involved in action anthropology and research and sometimes development
anthropology. The goal is for the anthropologist to bring about sociocultural change. An
anthropologist is a change agent when he or she is directly involved in implementing a project, or,
when conducting research, he or she deliberately introduces an innovation to a community.
• Activist or action anthropology involves the anthropologist taking a partisan stance on issues
both in local and global settings usually concerning inequities in power and resource allocation
(Ferraro & Andreatta 2014:57-58: Kedia & Van Willigen 2007:9-10); Van Willigen 2002:3-6).

The various roles suggest that considerable amounts of the anthropologist's time and effort are devoted
to negotiating with people and interviewing people, as well as instructing, persuading, supervising,
monitoring and observing people. Anthropologists deal extensively with data: gathering it, classifying it,
and synthesising it, but also gain important skills related to dealing directly with people.

To be able to solve real-world problems, applied anthropologists not only have to directly deal with
people in the groups, organisations or communities in need of assistance, but more often than not, have
to work in interdisciplinary collaborations. Stakeholders could include decision makers in businesses,
nongovernmental agencies (NGOs), government organisations, other interest groups and scientifical or
technical experts (Kedia & Van Willigen 2007:1, 17).

[Link] self-evaluation activities

Activity 4.1
• Look around your own community and identify a human issue or problem. Define the issue in
terms of the actual problem that your community experiences. For instance, you could identify an
issue such as inadequate infrastructure in your community.
• Be the anthropologist and investigate the actual day-to-day problems that people endure
because of the issue.
• Look at the issue from the anthropological perspective and consider how poor roads directly
impact on people’s everyday lives.
• Be specific, such as elderly people’s difficulty in walking along uneven and potholed roads,
children playing close to poor drainage, and so on.
• Write/type a few notes on how an anthropologist identifies the issues and obtains relevant data.

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Lesson 5: ETHICAL ISSUES AND CONSIDERATIONS

FRAMEWORK

1. Introduction
2. Adopting an ethical position
3. Practising an ethical anthropology
3.1 Code of ethics
Prescribed reading 3: Ethical guidelines and principles of conduct for anthropologists (2004)
from Anthropology Southern Africa
3.2 Ethical dilemmas
Case study A: The children of Sanchez and the Springdale study
Case study B: Project Camelot
Case study C: Wyndal, South Africa
Case study D:
Prescribed reading 4: (In-)securities and ethical dilemmas of the field: Reflections on insecurities
and ethical dilemmas encountered by male researchers in a South African place (2018) by
Andile Mayekiso & Munyaradzi Mawere
4. Concluding self-evaluation activities

LESSON OUTCOMES

After working through this lesson, you should be able to do the following:

• Critically evaluate why the nature of anthropological fieldwork necessitates ethical behaviour by
anthropologists, who involve themselves in other people’s lives.
• Critically discuss the code of ethics for anthropologists in Southern Africa.
• Identify and critically engage with the ethical dilemmas experienced by anthropologists in the
given case studies, including the prescribed reading.

KEY TERMS
Ethical dilemmas, Ubuntu

1. INTRODUCTION

The very nature of anthropological research presumes a lengthy and intimate involvement of
anthropologists with the people amongst whom they do fieldwork. Anthropologists depend upon rapport
with their research participants when doing research. They build bonds of friendship and mutual trust,
and a relationship of reciprocity develops between anthropologist and research participants.

Anthropologists, furthermore, gain access to people's personal and private lives, and to sensitive and
even vital information. Even before the question arises as to what an anthropologist may or may not do
with the data obtained, it has to be acknowledged that his or her involvement with the people, whether
with a view to deliberately effecting change or not, will never leave them unchanged. Whatever its
nature, anthropological research cannot be divorced from the issue of ethics, and ethical involvement
with people’s lives has to be an all-important concern for all anthropologists.

Although ethical problems might seem to be especially pertinent to applied anthropology, this is not so,
as ethical questions are inherent in all anthropological research. People-orientated research must
inevitably involve ethical considerations because the context of anthropological research is dynamic,
complex and varied. Anthropologists are involved with and responsible to the individuals and
communities with whom they work.

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2. ADOPTING AN ETHICAL POSITION

Anthropologists are by no means in full agreement in their stance on ethical issues or the role they
should be playing in human affairs. There are several reasons for this:

• Applied anthropologists are products of the developmental history and diverse perspectives of
the discipline of anthropology.
• Applied anthropologists are influenced by the ideological climate in their community or country.
• Problems and concerns and time and place shape anthropologists' perspectives.
• Individual values, preferences and priorities guide an anthropologist's activities.

Based on the anthropologist’s values, he or she will regard anthropological fieldwork, involvement with
research participants and the substance of research data from slightly differing ethical perspectives,
which have changed and do change over time.

3. PRACTISING AN ETHICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

3.1 CODES OF ETHICS

Not surprisingly, anthropologists' concern about their own norms and codes of conduct in the fieldwork
context has been increasingly voiced and debated over the years. As the moral and practical issues
manifested more frequently and compellingly, anthropologists were eventually obliged to formally
express their views.

The expressing of ethical views and debates on what sort of behaviour is or is not ethical concluded in
sets of guidelines or codes of ethics for anthropologists. Different anthropological associations compile
their own set of guidelines and in most countries, anthropologists abide by a set of guidelines for
conducting research.

In 1987, the Association for Anthropology in Southern Africa (AASA) adopted a code of ethics for
member anthropologists, both theoretical and applied. After this association amalgamated with the South
African Society for Cultural Anthropologists (SASCA) in 2001, the amalgamated Anthropology Southern
Africa (ASnA) set the existing code of ethics for practising anthropologists.

Anthropology Southern Africa (the association for South African and other southern African
anthropologists) adopted a set of Ethical guidelines and principles of conduct for anthropologists at its
2004 conference in Bloemfontein (Anthropology Southern Africa, 2005). Remember that in Lesson 1 the
web address of ASnA was given. Here it is again so that you can visit the website at Home
([Link]) ([Link] You will find the anthropologists’ code of ethics there as well.

Prescribed reading 3 (included in the study guide)

Anthropology Southern Africa. 2004. ‘Ethical guidelines and principles of conduct for anthropologists.’
Anthropology Southern Africa 28 (3 & 4): pp 142-143.

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3.2 ETHICAL DILEMMAS

It is sometimes stated or implied in the preamble to ethical guidelines that the reputation of
anthropological research will inevitably depend less on what professional bodies assert about their
ethical norms than on the conduct of individual researchers. This means that despite guidelines,
ultimately anthropologists practise anthropology according to their own ethical positions. The practice of
anthropology frequently presents dilemmas for the anthropologist, as their practice may be perceived by
other anthropologists as the correct conduct or as transgressions.

The following summarised historical case studies followed by one prescribed reading of more recent
anthropological research discuss several ethical issues and dilemmas encountered by anthropologists in

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the field. The lessons learnt from classic case studies such as A, B and C have been used to compile
and adapt ethical guidelines for anthropologists.

We give you these case studies so that you can understand the kind of ethical dilemmas you should
avoid and/or could encounter when conducting your own research. By reading these studies, you will
also gain an understanding of how an anthropologist’s actions can have a positive or negative
repercussions for research participants. By becoming aware of these ethical issues, we prepare
ourselves to avoid or/and how to act in similar kind of situations – not only when conducting
anthropological research but research in any of the human sciences.

It is important that before you start reading the prescribed case studies to have familiarised yourself with
the Ethical guidelines and principles of conduct for anthropologists of Anthropology Southern Africa
given earlier in this lesson.

As you read the following summarised case studies, answer the following question:

Case study A and B are classic examples of responsibilities to different people and the use and
publication of data; Case study C describes similar dilemmas in South Africa. As you study them,
compare the case studies in terms of the different contexts in which anthropologists were working and
identify ethical dilemmas or issues and possible ethical transgressions.

Case study A: Children of Sanchez and the Springdale study

The following ethical dilemmas are described in Bates and Plog (1990:458-459). The first case (Children
of Sanchez) occurred in the 1960s when the anthropologist Oscar Lewis published his research into the
‘culture of poverty’ in Mexico as a life history of an extremely poor Mexican family. The publication was
part of his long-term investigation into the subject of poverty in different parts of the world. The title of the
book was The Children of Sanchez: Autobiography of a Mexican Family (1961). Sanchez was the
pseudonym of the research participant family, who in the book tell their own story quoted by Lewis
verbatim. The story includes obscene language, political opinions, the seamier side of the Sanchez lives
and embarrassing and potentially incriminating facts about them. In order that local Mexican scholars
would have the opportunity to criticise his research, Lewis also issued a Spanish translation in 1965.

In reaction to the Spanish publication, some Mexican newspaper accused Lewis of being an undercover
agent of the United States FBI, who used hidden recording devices and fabricated data to characterise
the Mexican population as “the most degraded, miserable and vile people in the whole world” incapable
of self-government (Bates & Plog 1990:458). None of these accusations were true and other Mexican
reporters defended Lewis.

In conducting his research, Lewis had identified his sponsor and his research goals, obtained the
permission of the Sanchez family to publish their story and had been careful to conceal their identity.
Despite this, the Mexican Geographical and Statistical Society filed a lawsuit against Lewis for obscenity
and slander against the people of Mexico. However, the Attorney General rejected the case, but had the
case gone to court Lewis might not have been able to protect the identity of the Sanchez family, violating
his guarantee of anonymity.

The second case (the Springdale case study) described by Bates and Plog (1990:459), concerns the
violation of anonymity and privacy when the research participants, in a small town in the United States,
objected to public exposure as a result of the publication of an unofficial account of research by one of
the research team. The anthropologist, Arthur Vidich, thought he had fulfilled his obligation to the
research participants when he gave members of the community and the town (Springdale) fictitious
names. The research participants did not: Not only in references to ‘the school principal’ or ‘the mayor’
were community members able to recognise one another, but also representations of their lives were
considered sensationalised.

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In conducting research, anthropologists need to consider their responsibility to informants, whether
obtaining consent and guaranteeing anonymity in a publication such as Children of Sanchez and
Springdale are actually enough, because participants in research, perhaps naïve or poorly educated,
might not understand the full implications of or anticipate reactions to the details of their lives and
opinions.

The problem is that a published anthropological study may be used by anyone and there is no legal right
to withhold information or research participants’ identities from a court of law. A sense of responsibility to
informants does not include refusal to submit records or testify. This fact poses problems for
anthropologists: The argument against fully explaining possible problems as a result of publication is that
to do so might mean people will not participate in the research. Some researchers think sensitive data is
essential to their study, while others prefer to avoid such information, focussing on what is already public
knowledge. Some researchers show the results of their studies to the research participants; others feel
no such obligation. One realises that ethics in research is complex, and anthropologists can and do
make mistakes (Bates & Plog 1990:458-459).

Case Study B: Project Camelot

Plog and Bates (1980:66-70) describe an ethical dilemma concerning anthropologists involved with
government sponsorship. Project Camelot was an anthropological investigation designed and funded by
a special counterinsurgency unit of the United States Army to investigate breakdown in social order
based on the argument that revolution is detrimental to a society and should be avoided. The scope of
the anthropologists’ study was political and social unrest in underdeveloped countries. The ethical
dilemma raised by the study caused anthropologists to take opposing stances: Some saw Camelot as
simply an opportunity to study conflict and conflict resolution, while others emphasised the significance
of the government sponsorship of the project. Further criticism was of the limitations imposed by the
sponsor on the scope of research: Researchers were not to explore whether revolution was beneficial in
some instances, nor to question the role of the United States in ‘creating social unrest and suppressing
opposition to incumbent governments’ (Plog & Bates 1980:66).

In anticipation that Chile would be included in the project, an American anthropologist received
government funding for an informal survey while he was on academic business in Chile. Although Chile
was not at that time part of the Project Camelot investigations, the anthropologist was to discuss the
project and the possibility of Chilean researchers participating. A meeting with a leading Chilean
sociologist resulted in a confrontation. Not only did the Chilean sociologist want to know the goals of the
United States Army-sponsored research, but he also sent a memo on Project Camelot to the Chilean
authorities and press. The Chilean government were understandably alarmed as no approach had been
made openly by the United States government to conduct such research. Defenders of the project might
argue that that was because no research had as yet been planned. However, Latin American
governments are well aware of United States interference with other government policies and concluded
that the United States Army was planning to recruit Chilean academics as spies. (It is well known that
the United States CIA funds so called research agents through American universities, with the result that
host countries are wary of giving permission to genuine researchers.) Within days the Chilean press
reported on the American intentions and Chilean government contacted the United States government,
which insisted that the Army terminate the project immediately.

Another instance of the United States government employing anthropologists occurred in a study in
South Vietnam on the effects of defoliation as a weapon of war in the 1970s, which was strongly
objected to by the American Anthropological Association (AAA Newsletter, 1972:8-9). In such projects
we see, again, the dilemma of the use of anthropological data. In these instances, the dilemma is
whether it is ethical to conduct anthropological research paid for by an agency that might use the data
against the interests of the host country. However, some anthropologists saw the termination of Project
Camelot as ‘an act of government censorship’ (Plog & Bates 1980:66-70).

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Case study C: Wyndal, South Africa

The American anthropologist Vincent Crapanzano spent some months studying the people of ‘Wyndal'
(his fictitious name for Franschhoek, a town in Western Cape Province). While he was staying in their
town, Crapanzano presented himself to the townsfolk as a friend, won their confidence, ostensibly
identified with their views and values, and conducted lengthy interviews with them. Crapanzano let the
people talk about themselves and a large part of his book consists of original quotations. The results of
Crapanzano’s research were eventually published in his book entitled Waiting: the whites of South Africa
(1985). The book was well received in the United States and Great Britain. It sold well and had some
good reviews. Published at the height of anti-apartheid action outside South Africa, one might say, it was
a marketable product: South Africa, whites, racism, discrimination, and more.

Within South Africa, some anthropologists criticised the publication: Allowing the participants to talk
about themselves was commendable and many people would decry the prejudice and bigotry displayed
by some of the people of ‘Wyndal' and the apartheid system of which they are a product. Scholars’
familiar with the research setting, however, including some who spoke to Crapanzano's research
participants in follow-up research, revealed a different picture. A compilation of critical reviews appeared
in a book entitled Truth be in the field (1990), with the reviewers stating a common concern for the lack
of scientific responsibility in how data was collected and used (Hugo et al 1990: chapter 24).

In essence, the criticism of Crapanzano’s research was that not only did it suffer from serious problems
of factual authenticity, but also that the quotations he used were highly selective, were used out of
context, and revealed intimate and confidential matters. Some statements were not authorised by the
research participants. They stemmed from informal discussions, which Crapanzano stated he would not
use, as opposed to the data that emanated from formal interviews. In addition, the interviews he held
were with white members of the community only. Crapanzano claimed, incorrectly, that legislation
forbade interviews with ‘non-whites'. And, although he used pseudonyms for the people quoted or
referred to in the book, it was not difficult for the residents of this relatively small town to identify the
individuals concerned. Based on the follow-up research, critics suggested that nature of the matters
revealed by Crapanzano and his innuendo and speculation led to serious disruption and damage to
family and group life within the Franschhoek community (Hugo et al 1990, Chapter 24).

The critics extended an invitation to Crapanzano to respond to their criticism in a published exchange of
academic opinion. The critical reviews and Crapanzano’s response were to be published together in
Truth be in the field. Crapanzano did not respond to the invitation (Hugo et al 1990).

In 1993, the American anthropologist Nancy Scheper-Hughes also researched ‘Wyndal’ to reassess the
attitudes of the white farming community of Franschhoek as part of a study on subjectivity in the run up
to South Africa’s first democratic elections. Her reflection on that research is included in her 2007
publication on the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission entitled Violence and the politics
of remorse (Scheper-Hughes 2007:182-185).

Although Scheper-Hughes (2007:184) commenced her fieldwork nearly 10 years after Crapanzano had
done his research, she still encountered white South Africans who told her “Don’t Crapanzano us”, which
is a clear indication of how one anthropologists’ unethical actions could have negative consequences for
all other anthropologists in that field.

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Case study D: (In-)securities and ethical dilemmas of the field: Reflections on insecurities and ethical
dilemmas encountered by male researchers in a South African place

Prescribed reading 4 (available on the APY3702 site under the Prescribed readings icon in your
dashboard):

Mayekiso, Andile & Mawere, Munyaradzi. 2018. ‘(In-)securities and ethical dilemmas of the field:
Reflections on insecurities and ethical dilemmas encountered by male researchers in a South African
place.’ in (ed.) Mawere, M. Development naivety and emergent insecurities in a monopolised world: The
politics and sociology of development in contemporary Africa. Bamenda, Cameroon: Langaa RPCIG: pp
121-134.

Note that Langaa RPCIG is the publisher of this article and promotes African scholarship.

Answer the following questions to guide you through the prescribed reading:

Important to note: In this study, the researcher(s) encountered unforeseen ethical dilemmas in
the field.

• Explain the potential male research participants’ reactions to the researchers (Mayekiso & Mawere
2018) request to participate in his study on fatherhood in their suburb/community. How was the
researcher able to overcome this conundrum without making ethical compromises?

• Explain the male versus female problematics experienced in this study. How was the researcher
able to resolve this ethical predicament?

• To gain a deeper understanding of the ethical dilemmas experienced by the author during his
research, critically discuss the historical context of the new nuclear families in Gugulethu and how
this has had an impact on fatherhood.

• Explain how the researcher dealt with the ethical dilemmas he encountered in Njabu’s case (Case
one).

• Critically discuss why the researcher did not follow this same approach in Sihle’s case (Case two).

• Explain the role of the African philosophy of Ubuntu in the researcher’s ethical approach to his
research participants.

Additional reading (not compulsory):

If you are interested in this topic, you can also read the following article:
Mutaru, Saibu. 2018. ‘Conducting anthropological fieldwork in northern Ghana: Emerging ethical
dilemmas.’ Anthropology Southern Africa 40 (3): pp 185-198.

4. Concluding self-evaluation activities

Activity 5.1
With reference to the ethical dilemmas presented in the case studies, The Children of Sanchez, the
Springdale Study, Project Camelot and Wyndal, South Africa, answer the following questions:
• What was the essence of Oscar Lewis’ dilemma?
• What was the ethical situation in Springdale?
• How did the Camelot project violate the ASnA code of ethics?
• What was the South African anthropologists’ criticism of Crapanzano’s research done in Wyndal?
• What ethical lessons have you learnt from the dilemmas?

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Activity 5.2
Case study D, the reading (In-)securities and ethical dilemmas of the field: Reflections on insecurities
and ethical dilemmas encountered by male researchers in a South African place, gives a much more
comprehensive description of what anthropological research entails and the kind of unexpected ethical
dilemmas an anthropologist could encounter. The author conducted research among his own people
and therefore has thorough knowledge of the spoken language, it being his home language, which
further informed his already in-depth knowledge of the sociocultural systems in which the study was
conducted.

Critically discuss how his insider role influenced his dealings with the ethical quandaries he
encountered.

Activity 5.3
With reference to the ethical code of Anthropology Southern Africa:
• Critically discuss the importance of ethical behaviour by anthropologists.
• Critically assess the possibility of ethical transgressions.
• Critically discuss the possibility of encountering unforeseen ethical dilemmas.
Motivate your arguments with illustrative details from the case studies.

Activity 5.4
You have now been familiarised with the Ethical guidelines and principles of conduct for anthropologists
in Southern Africa. Try to find other codes of conduct for anthropologists from any other areas in the
world. You have to find at least one other code of ethics for anthropologists.

Activity 5.5
• Look around your own community and identify a need, for instance, for a development programme
or healthcare improvement or educational reform or environmental project.
• Imagine you are an anthropologist collecting data or an anthropologist is researching your
neighbourhood for the project.
• List the different fieldwork techniques involved in data collection.
• Add to your list what you think might be ethical issues, such as research participants’ fear of
speaking out, or individuals being frank about things going on in the neighbourhood, invasion of
people's private lives, and so on – in other words, your ideas of what you think might be intrusive or
cause trouble, and how people who provide information might need protection.
• In essence, think about problems you might need to consider when involving yourself in people's
lives.

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 PART TWO: SELECTED FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL APPLICATION

Lesson 6: ANTHROPOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT

FRAMEWORK

1. Introduction
2. Defining development
3. Development strategies and roles
4. Meaningful development
Prescribed reading 5: The roles of applied anthropology in designing developmental Aid programs in
Africa: A special case of development programs in Malawi (2017) by Davie Moses Simengwa
5. Concluding self-evaluation activities

LESSON OUTCOMES

After working through this lesson, you should be able to do the following:

• Explain the nature and scope of the anthropological approach to development programmes
aimed at improving sociocultural conditions.
• Critically evaluate how anthropology can bring meaningful and sustainable development through
contextual ethnographic research and context-specific programme design.

KEY TERMS
Development, sustainable development

1. INTRODUCTION

In this lesson, we explore how anthropologists can be involved with the research, design and even the
implementation of development aid programmes aimed at improving sociocultural conditions. The
anthropologist's intention is to make sure that the development programme is appropriate and
sustainable for the community.

2. DEFINING DEVELOPMENT

Development literally implies positive change, with its main objective to eliminate poverty. It could include
any planned attempts to alter how humans interact with the natural and built environment to improve the
existing conditions of disadvantaged and/or impoverished communities, even countries. This may
include new agricultural techniques, exploration of and conversion to new energy resources,
modernisation of transport systems, housing projects, and healthcare provisions, protection of the
natural environment like water resources (Lewis 2005:3; Gardner & Lewis 2015:9).

The term ‘development’ has, however, been contested over time. Used as an adjective, it means
communities are compared against a particular standard, most commonly a capitalist standard. The idea
that economic empowerment will lead to a higher happiness index is generally perceived to be a western
value and not applicable to communities worldwide. It is therefore understandable that development
initiatives may not always be perceived as desirable by the communities concerned, and consequently
fail. Yet, despite all the problematics involved in the development scenario, philanthropy is perceived as
a great moral value for billionaires, world renowned musicians and actors, who spend billions of dollars
on development initiatives and projects. Governments of countries with advanced economies (highly
developed industrialised countries) have special units that create development funds for impoverished or

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disaster-stricken communities and countries. International multilateral organisations such as the World
Bank, the International Monetary Fund and various United Nation agencies also plough billions of dollars
into development projects. This means development projects are being implemented even though the
success rate of these projects has proven to be very low. Anthropologists could be of assistance in
improving the success rate of these development programs to the benefit of the communities (Bouju
2011: II-III; Gardner & Lewis 2015:3, 10; Simenga 2017:3).

3. DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES AND ROLES

Anthropologists can be consulted for various development programmes and may contribute sociocultural
research and suggestions for sustainable programmes based on their contextual and holistic approach,
which leads to coordinated and integrated development with the general wellbeing of the people as the
primary concern.

Early development programmes of the 1960s applied a ‘blueprint’ approach – see for example
Goodenough (1966) and Foster (1969). This was an important contribution to development fieldwork, but
the perspective tended to be formulaic and without sensitivity and specificity for the particular context of
the community concerned, whereas we realise today that emphasis on the sociocultural context of the
community concerned in implementing a development project or bringing about sociocultural change of
whatever kind is vital (Simengwa 2017:8, 11).

Examples of the lists of typical steps, procedures and characteristics of a stereotypical development
project, as suggested by the early development anthropologists, are included here to serve as a
reminder of what may be involved as well as a possible framework, within which development projects
may be conducted.

3.1 People involved and interest groups

The parties involved in development programmes include, amongst others:

• Community in whose region development is planned

• Organisation initiating the development
• Funders of the programme or project
• Change agent who actually executes the project and who may be the anthropologist
• Local workers if the project requires manual labour
• Project manager
• Anthropologist, whose role in such a project includes research, planning, advice,
implementation training and evaluation

3.2 Implementation

The implementation of the development project involves:

• Determining the ideals and needs of the

o community, and
o development agency concerned
• This means doing research and planning, involving all the interested parties.
• Implementing the project based on the foregoing research and planning.
• Evaluating the progress and success of the project on an ongoing basis.
• Carrying out the anthropological analysis and interpretation of the whole exercise.

4. MEANINGFUL DEVELOPMENT

For many years, funding organisations and agencies have channelled billions of rands (or dollars or
pounds) into development projects all over the world. This money was not always spent effectively. The

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history of flawed projects stemmed mainly from a failure to recognise sociocultural realities: Too often,
there was insufficient research and planning. Too often, the emphasis was exclusively on technological
development without proper consideration of sociocultural context. And, too often, funds and initiatives
were channelled through the leadership or elitist factions of a community on the erroneous assumption
that ideas and resources would filter equitably to the people at large (see Simengwa 2017:4-5).

Since the 1980s, the emphasis in development has shifted to a so-called people-oriented approach. The
title Putting people first of a World Bank publication on development symbolises this trend.

The priorities that are now being emphasised should not surprise an anthropologist. They include the
following:

• Sociocultural factors are fundamental in project design.

• Projects are aimed at the poor, the ordinary people at large.
• Thorough prior situational research of the people and their problems in their own contexts is
essential.
• The cooperation and involvement of the people themselves in every stage of the project is
crucial.
• Effective and continuous communication between all parties concerned is indispensable.
• The goals and priorities of the people themselves must be identified.

The following prescribed reading is an unpublished paper that was delivered by Simengwa at the
Anthropology Southern Africa conference held in Cameroon in 2017. This paper contains his notes that
he presented at the conference and covers a wide spectrum of ideas about development projects and
the possible roles of applied anthropologists in Africa.

Prescribed reading 5 (available on the APY3702 site under the Prescribed readings icon in your
dashboard):
Simengwa, Davie Moses. 2017. ‘The roles of applied anthropology in designing developmental Aid
programs in Africa: A special case of development programs in Malawi.’ Paper delivered at ASnA,
Cameroon.
[Link]

To guide you through the prescribed reading, ask yourself the following questions:

• Simengwa (2017) explained that the main goal of development aid programs is to fight poverty and
assist in economic growth. The number and variety of aid programs boomed after the World War II
and exploded in the 1960s and onwards. What does the author indicate as the main reasons for the
proliferation of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) involved in aid programs in Africa?

• Discuss the development aid organisations that are active in Africa and how these are mainly
funded.

• A high percentage of aid programs have failed in Africa. Explain the participatory development
theory introduced by anthropologists to counteract negative outcomes of aid programs.

• Discuss the reasons the author indicated for the high percentage of failure of development aid
programs in Malawi and other African countries (see pp.1-10).

• Give a short description of the anthropological methodology used by the author (primary data and
secondary data).

• The author gives several examples of failed development aid programs in Malawi. Discuss 2 or 3 of
these case studies and indicate the main stumble blocks experienced by the stakeholders. It is
important to also refer to the problematics surrounding the involvement of NGOs (see pp.5-9).

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• What is meant by sustainable development and what are the main aspects that must be included
to make a development aid program sustainable? (See pp.10-11)

• Despite millions of dollars of aid programs that have been implemented in Africa, impoverished
communities have increased over the past decades. Briefly list the barriers to sustainable
development in Malawi identified by the author (see pp.14-16).

• In short, what are Simengwa’s (2017) suggestions towards the successful implementation of
sustainable development aid projects?

5. Concluding self-evaluation activities

Activity 6.1
Type or jot down a few of your own ideas for development in a poorer area of your own locality:
• How would you go about finding out what the community will accept?
• What problems might you encounter?
• What would make your project sustainable?

Activity 6.2
• In Lesson 7, Ogunbodede (2015) also discussed sustainable development projects in Africa. What
does he identify as one of the main barriers to sustainable development?

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 Lesson 7: ANTHROPOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

FRAMEWORK

1. Introduction
2. Protection of the natural environment
3. Anthropologists, human issues, and the environment
4. Environmental damage
4.1 Anthropological assessment
4.2 Pollution and overexploitation.
Prescribed reading 6: Sustainable development and environmental health problems in Africa: A
critique (2015) by Abiodun Ogunbodede
5. Concluding self-evaluation questions

LESSON OUTCOMES

After working through this lesson, you should be able to do the following:

• Determine the nature and scope of applied anthropology in assessing environmental pollution
and over-exploitation of natural resources as contemporary human issues.
• Critically assess the contribution valid and reliable ethnographic data can make to investigating
various sociocultural factors and issues related to environmental pollution and over-exploitation of
natural resources.

KEY TERMS
Pollution, overexploitation, World Conservation Strategy, World System Theory

1. INTRODUCTION

The impact on the natural environment by humans can be profoundly damaging and, in some instances,
irreversibly so. As anthropologists we are concerned about what human actions cause environmental
damage and how a damaged environment impacts on the lives of our communities and societies across
the globe.

Anthropologists contribute in various ways to dealing with issues generated by the relationship between
humans and the natural environment — in essence, the interface between sociocultural factors and the
land, water, the air, flora and fauna.

Many countries throughout the world, including South Africa, have national environmental protection Acts
(Environmental Impact Assessment regulations), which require an assessment of the impact of
government-funded and other projects on the lives of existing communities and the environments where
they live. This means that the influence of projects on biological, geological, historical and sociocultural
resources should first be evaluated, ensuring maximum benefits and minimum negative risks, before the
project is implemented. This, however, is not always the case due to various reasons. See for example
the Prescribed reading 6.

In this lesson, we are going to consider how anthropologists can contribute to identifying and solving
environmental human issues in studies of environmental pollution and exploitation.

2. PROTECTION OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

The pollution and over-exploitation of the natural environment, with the consequent diminishing of natural
resources and accelerating extinctions of animal and plant species, are major problems that are currently

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threatening the survival of humankind and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future. Since the
1980s, strategies for the conservation of nature and natural resources have, theoretically, existed. For
example, global concern for the environmental crisis has been shown by the formulation of the World
Conservation Strategy: Living Resource Conservation for Sustainable Development (Environment &
Society Portal 2017:1).

Additional reading:
For more information on the World Conservation Strategy: Living Resource Conservation for
Sustainable Development, follow the inserted link:
IUCN, ed., World Conservation Strategy: Living Resource Conservation for Sustainable Development |
Environment & Society Portal ([Link])

Interesting fact:
Prof Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan born environmentalist, was the founder of the well-known
Green Belt Movement (GBM), a grassroots organisation focused on poverty reduction and
environmental conservation through community-based tree planting. She was the first African
woman to win the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize specifically for sustainable development,
democracy and peace. She inspired many people across the globe, which led the making of a
documentary about her work, namely Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai, which
won numerous international awards. To learn more about the inspiring legacy of Prof Wangari
Maathai, visit the following site:

Wangari Maathai | The Green Belt Movement

[Link]

3. ANTHROPOLOGISTS, HUMAN ISSUES AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Anthropologists become involved in helping to resolve potential conflicts between sociocultural factors
and environmental issues. For instance, anthropologists research conflicts and issues arising from the
growth and development of organisations, corporations, etc, and the utilisation of the natural
environment, the impact of the aforementioned upon the preservation of the environmental heritage and
the ways in which the lives (lifestyles) of communities involved are affected.

Anthropologists can

• contribute to developing environmental policies

• act as expert community researchers and consultants
• act as watchdogs or play an advocacy role when the health or general wellbeing of a community
is threatened

When anthropologists investigate the relationship between the human issues and the environment, they
may be called in by affected communities or by governmental, non-governmental or other agencies
planning a project.

4. ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE

Pollution and over-exploitation are intensifying issues for many populations and those living in poverty.
Transnational mining and petroleum corporations have caused irreversible damage to the natural
environment because of the polluting waste products of their industries. Both instances entail
sociocultural factors and issues: the groups involved, the damage to the environment and its impact on
affected communities.

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In investigating environmental damage, anthropological involvement entails

• analysing the sociocultural context of the affected environment

• cultural analysis to assess the impact of the pollution/over-exploitation on affected communities
• studying public and private responses to the pollution/over-exploitation
• applying the anthropological perspective and research methodology to produce valid and reliable
ethnographic data

4.1 Anthropological assessment

The anthropologist assesses environmental damage from the human perspective to determine the
causes and the effects of the damage. In many instances, the anthropologist is funded by governmental,
non-governmental (NGOs), commercial and other agencies to conduct the study.

In the process of investigating the sociocultural issues, the anthropologist may include the following
steps:

• Identifying the problem as a preliminary premise or objective of the investigation

• Identifying the population and the area
• Profiling the existing circumstances of the affected population, including assessing possible costs
and benefits of the project to them
• Looking at alternatives or options other than the proposed project, including stopping the project
• Predicting outcomes based on sound knowledge of the affected people’s (emic) values, culture
and trends in sociocultural change that might already be taking place
• In conjunction with predicting outcomes, the anthropologist also assesses possible options and
alternatives and how they could impact on the community.
• In consultation with the community involved, the anthropologist weighs up various possibilities
and suggests what is most desirable for the local population.
• Often, compensation is calculated on behalf of those negatively affected when the project is
presumed to be going ahead. This is done after the costs and benefits have been determined.
• Anthropologists also measure actual outcomes of a project against the original objectives and
criteria (Ervin 2000:103-107).

4.2 Pollution and overexploitation

The following prescribed reading was written by Abiodun Ogunbodede, who at that stage was a student
in the Department of Sociology/Anthropology at the University of Uyo, Nigeria. His paper is a
conversation about the impact of multinational companies, in particular those in the oil (petroleum)
industry, on the lives of the affected communities and what he as an African anthropologist from a
people-orientated African approach recommends as a possible solution. It is important to note that
researchers might have different solutions to the same problems, but by reading different opinions we
become more informed on a particular topic, and we grow to become thorough critical readers and make
informed choices about possible solutions. The main aim with this reading is to focus on the contents –
there is a lot to be learned from his approach, explanations and solution. It should be pointed out that by
means of publications, human issues and possible solutions are made known to the world and can assist
in the implementation of positive changes for humanity.

Prescribed reading 6 (available on the APY3702 site under the Prescribed readings icon in your
dashboard):
Ogunbodede, Abiodun J. 2015. ‘Sustainable development and environmental health problems in Africa:
A critique’ in (ed) Nkwi, N. The Anthropology of Africa: Challenges for the 21st Century. Cameroon:
LANGAA RPCIG: pp.243-250.

Note that Langaa RPCIG is the publisher of this article and promotes African scholarship.

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To guide you through the prescribed reading, answer the following questions:

First, note that Ogunbode (2015) often used the word man to refer to human, with the latter implicating
the inclusion of females as well. This article was written quite a while ago and therefore this kind of old
terminology was still used. At that stage it was accepted that the world of man included females as well.
Today, with the focus on gender equality, the term human rather than man and humanity rather than the
world of man is used.

• Human survival is closely interwoven with the natural environment. Since the beginning of time,
humans needed the natural environment as a resource to survive. The natural environment supplies
us with food, medicines, and protection from dangers of living on this planet. Now briefly explain how
the author, Ogunbodede (2015), perceives the role of the natural environment in sustainable
development.

• Critically discuss the consequences of overexploitation and pollution of a community, society, or

nation’s natural environment as identified by the Ogunbodede (2015).

• Critically discuss the World System Theory and how it is applicable in Africa as explained by
Ogunbodede (2015).

• Based on the Ogunbodede’s (2015) explanations, critically discuss what sustainable development
entails and how this has an impact on the elevation of poverty and ill health in Africa.

• Critically discuss reasoning for the solution given by multinational companies to assist those
communities affected by environmental pollution.

• Critically discuss the reasoning for the solution given by Ogunbodede (2015) to assist communities
affected by environmental pollution.

5. Concluding self-evaluation activities

Activity 7.1
As you work through the prescribed reading, give a brief synopsis of the people, the place and the
issues to remind you of the essence of this study. Then answer the following questions:
• What is the nature of the pollution?
• Who is causing the pollution?
• Who are the victims of the pollution?
• Identify the environmental and human (sociocultural) issues.
• What contributions do you think the anthropologist made in highlighting the issues?

Activity 7.2
Type or jot down a few of your own thoughts on the sociocultural issues arising from environmental
pollution in your own neighbourhood.

Activity 7.3
• What sociocultural issues do you think result from the following events: Oil spillage in the oceans by
tankers and offshore drilling accidents
• Acid water drainage from gold mining
• Sewage contamination of your local water resources

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Activity 7.4
A locally planned project that could cause pollution and environmental damage is fracking for
underground gas. In this process, local water is pumped into underground fissures to extract the gas.
People in the neighbourhood of such a project might have concerns about their local water table that will
drop drastically, which will have an impact on the quality of their agricultural land. People are likely to
ask questions about the quality of water after fracking, the impact on the soil and so on. When doing
your own research, you need to ask questions about human problems in the way an anthropologist
would do. You would need to determine who is causing or contributing to the environmental problem,
and who are the victims. You can also think of solutions to conserve the natural environment.

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Lesson 8: ANTHROPOLOGY AND EDUCATION

FRAMEWORK

1. Introduction
2. Anthropology’s focus on education
3. Perspectives and skills
Prescribed reading 7: Reflective practise and anthropology in culturally diverse classrooms
(1995) by Evelyn Jacobs
4. Concluding self-evaluation activities

LESSON OUTCOMES

After working through this lesson, you should be able to do the following:

• Discuss the nature and scope of the anthropological study of education.

• Critically discuss the anthropological contribution to solving education issues in a multicultural
world of heterogeneous populations.
• Explain how anthropology can be applied effectively in the complexities of the contemporary
school environment.

KEY TERMS
Multiculturalism, reflective practice

1. INTRODUCTION

For as long as anthropologists have been doing fieldwork, their ethnographies have included
observations of all aspects of people's day-to-day behaviour. More often than not, descriptions of the
various stages and characteristics of the enculturation or socialisation process were included because
even the early anthropologists were keenly aware of the importance of studying how knowledge within a
sociocultural system is passed on from one generation to the next, whether formally or informally.

Though many forms of education systems have been recorded by anthropologists, the main focus has
been on the western education system. Since anthropology’s early stages of development, it was
recognised for its potential contributions “to pedagogy, the school curriculum, and an understanding of
the culture of childhood ...” (Eddy 1985:84). Anthropology of education has developed rapidly and its
contributions to education have been and are being made over a wide front. Anthropologists have been
able to show that education is not always formal, nor that it takes place only in schools, and much more
is learned in school than is implied by a curriculum.

Over the past decades the colonial structures of education have been critiqued. For instance, in South
Africa this movement can been seen in #FeesMustFall (see for example Nyamjoh, 2012). Zembylas
(2018:1) explained that one of the main paradoxes in the decolonisation process of education is that
“education institutions continue to reproduce an epistemological hierarchy wherein western knowledge is
privileged over non-western bodies and traditions of knowledge and knowledge making”. Globally, there
are increasing efforts to explore how to transform western models of academic organisation and to
decolonise education pedagogy and praxis. Anthropologists have been and are part of this much-needed
transformational process, for example in an African context, see the work of Nyamnjoh (2004 & 2012),
Hlabangane (2018) and Nhemachena, Hlanbangane & Kaundjua (2020).

Until government systems, economies, educational systems, etc have been decolonised and
transformed to the satisfaction of the people, children still have to be able to gain knowledge that will

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enable them to survive in an overwhelmingly capitalist world. It, therefore, is important that
anthropologist assist in making school environments as accessible and fair to all who choose or have to
attend western institutions of education.

2. ANTHROPOLOGY’S FOCUS ON EDUCATION

Anthropology’s research focus on education includes the following themes:

• Non-formal and formal education of societies worldwide taught in the home environment, in any
kind of educational institution, place of work or during any other social interaction

In general, a lot of attention is given to western educational systems, for example

• education and multiculturalism

• educational pluralism
• cultural relevant pedagogy/mismatch between ways of knowing at home and ways of knowing at
schools
• education policy creation and implementation (evaluation of educational programmes), where the
anthropologist considers the needs, interests, and roles of all actors, e.g., students, parents,
teachers, administrators, staff and school district
• school-community relations (Bartlett 2020:1; Bartlett & Triana 2020:4; Mashau 2012:58-60,63)

3. PERSPECTIVES AND SKILLS

Typically, the most useful contributions have stemmed from anthropology's characteristic perspectives
and skills such as the holistic approach and the comparative approach to studies of education, including
enculturation, sociocultural relativism, participant observation, informal and in-depth interviews, focus
group interviews, statistical analysis of sociocultural data, the reflective practice, and school
ethnographies (Bartlett & Triana 2020:3-4).

Sociocultural change, technological development, the knowledge explosion, the need for improved living
standards and the ever-increasing demand for skilled 'human power' have produced problems that have
made education one of the key factors in so-called “human development”. The solution is, however, not
to be found only in the provision of more schools, colleges and universities.

Educational problems in countries with heterogeneous populations centre around teaching, study
techniques and strategies, learning and communication in a second language, curriculum content and
design, different frames of reference of learners or students and teachers, and inappropriate educational
systems, to mention but a few. The net result is more often than not poor performance on the part of the
students.

The special perspectives and skills that anthropologists bring to education in the area of specialisation
can make a useful contribution to solving many of these problems. Though the following study has been
conducted quite some time ago, it still speaks to issues experienced in contemporary education. The
author refers to several examples in differing circumstances and by using the comparative approach you
might be able recognise similar issues experienced in your school environment.

Prescribed reading 7 (available on the APY3702 site under the Prescribed readings icon in your
dashboard):
Jacobs, Evelyn. 1995. ‘Reflective practise and anthropology in culturally diverse classrooms.’ The
elementary school journal 95(5): pp 451-461.

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As you read the prescribed reading, answer the following questions:

• What is the actual role of the anthropologist?

• What constitutes the multicultural environment of the elementary school?

• How does the anthropologist develop a better understanding of how the students’ multicultural
environment affected school performance?

• What were Jacobs (1995) findings on performance in multicultural classrooms?

• How did the cultural behaviour of the Asian children affect their performance and why?

• What anthropological research methods did the teachers use?

• What two anthropological approaches were combined in the strategy for overcoming the
challenges facing educators in culturally diverse classrooms?

• What were the anthropologist’s suggestions for higher performance in the multicultural
classroom?

[Link] self-evaluation activities

Activity 8.1
Type or jot down your own thoughts on the following questions:
• How much or how little of your own education reflected your cultural heritage?
• How did diversity in your classroom impact on your experience of school?
• How do the cultural beliefs and values of the teachers themselves contribute to this situation?
• What are your own views on providing culturally sensitive education?

Activity 8.2
Critically discuss the role and contribution of applied anthropology in the field of education.

Substantiate your arguments by referring to the prescribed reading Reflective practise and anthropology
in culturally diverse classrooms and your own experiences as either a student or teacher.

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 Lesson 9: ANTHROPOLOGY AND HEALTHCARE

FRAMEWORK

1. Introduction
2. Anthropological interest in healthcare
3. Perceptions of biomedicine
4. Anthropological contribution to healthcare solutions
5. Domains of healthcare
6. Anthropological applications in a healthcare context
Prescribed reading 8: Medical Anthropology and Practice of Medicine in Health issues [in Africa]
(2020) by Tchouaffi & Kitchener
Prescribed reading 9: A folk model of malaria causation among the Abagussi of South-western
Kenya: Implications for malaria treatment (2015) by Isaac K Nyamongo
Prescribed reading 10: COVID-19 and the Lessons Anthropology Learned from HIV/AIDs (2020) by
Singer
7. Concluding self-evaluation activities

LESSON OUTCOMES

After working through this lesson, you should be able to do the following:

• Discuss healthcare as a specialised field of applied anthropology that investigates the

contributions of healthcare systems across the globe.
• Discuss the possible contributions applied anthropology can make in the field of healthcare.

KEY TERMS
Health, biomedicine, ethnomedicine, medical pluralism

1. INTRODUCTION

Communities the world over have healthcare systems that comprise beliefs, behaviour patterns,
practices, knowledge, and practitioners, aimed at and involved in attaining or ensuring health and
preventing and attempting to cure illness (Kottak 2019:46).

The field of anthropology and healthcare is fully explored in module APY2602, Anthropology of Health. In
this lesson, we are going to explore examples of the application of anthropological principles and
methodology to healthcare issues to contribute to the formulation of suitable healthcare solutions.

It is important to note that in several universities the anthropology of health or healthcare is referred to as
medical anthropology. The latter name, however, may give the impression that it is just about
biomedicine (also referred to as allopathic, conventional, scientific, and western medicine) and not about
different healthcare systems across the globe. We, therefore, rather refer to this field of specialisation as
the anthropology of health or healthcare.

2. ANTHROPOLOGICAL INTEREST IN HEALTHCARE

For as long as anthropologists have been doing fieldwork, their ethnographies have included
observations of all facets of people's day-to-day behaviour and have often included descriptions of the
healthcare practices of the communities concerned (Tchouaffi & Kitchener 2020:1). Although the healing
processes were described, as were the medicines, perceptions and individuals involved in the
processes, they did not really reflect a specialist interest in healthcare as the anthropologists who
specialise in health have today.

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The utilisation of anthropological knowledge and the process of applying ethnographic methodology to
health issues across the globe started coming to the forefront after the Second World War, which
initiated the early developments of the anthropology of healthcare. This time was characterised by
widespread international development and humanitarian efforts focussed on disease control, with its
accompanying sanitation and nutrition practices to prevent further spread of illnesses in the Global South
in which anthropologists were able to make meaningful contributions. The emphasis was on sanitation
systems and nutrition practices, because since these were improved in Europe and North America
during the 19th century, the life expectancy of the general populations has increased (Lewis 2020:2; Lock
& Nguyen 2018:1).

3. PERCEPTIONS OF BIOMEDICINE (BIOMEDICINE AS ONE OF MANY HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS

IN THE WORLD)

Biomedicine has its roots in indigenous medicinal knowledges and later developed from the natural
sciences. At first it developed in the western nations, but since then nations from across the globe
contributed to the clinical development of this medical system.

It is important to note that in its early days biomedicine was perceived to be without cultural influence,
therefore a neutral medical system, the same as western schools of thinking perceived western sciences
to be culturally neutral. In contrast, non-biomedical systems were assumed to be culturally constructed
and therefore referred to as traditional- or ethnomedical systems. Non-biomedical systems were
frequently contrasted with the biomedical system and often found to lack sufficient scientific knowledge,
and therefore considered to pose danger to their patients. This perception is still true for many
biomedical practitioners and patients, irrelevant of their sociocultural backgrounds. Then there is of
course also a whole debate about what is perceived to be scientific knowledge, and when is something
to be perceived as scientifically proven, but that is not a topic covered in this module (Gaines 2008:114;
Mayekiso & Mawere 2015:119; Sithole 2005:443).

It was only during the late 1970s and early 1980s that interpretive social sciences and specifically
interpretive medical anthropology challenged the idea that the theory and practices of biomedicine were
culturally neutral. The result was that biomedicine was reconceptualised as a sociocultural creation
having its own diverse indigenous roots, set of beliefs, rules and practices. This, however, happened
within certain anthropological circles and is not true for all. It did make it possible for anthropologists
though to study biomedicine just as any other medical system or rather healthcare system in the world
(Gaines 2008:114; Jaiswal 2018:6).

Then it is important to note that biomedicine is not the only healthcare system used in the western world.
For many decades, healthcare systems such as naturopathy, homeopathy, chiropractic therapy and
kinesiology have also been used and the same as other non-biomedical healthcare systems have been
scrutinised by the biomedical world as being unscientific. In general, these systems of healthcare are
referred to as alternative systems of healthcare; meaning being different from biomedicine. It is therefore
problematic to refer to biomedicine as the one and only western medical system.

4. ANTHROPOLOGICAL CONTRIBUTION TO HEALTHCARE SOLUTIONS

One of the early contributions made by healthcare/medical anthropologists was to advise that non-
biomedical healthcare systems, including the perceptions of health, healing procedures and solutions
should receive serious consideration, because they are not only of value in their particular contexts but
are also effective in strictly biomedical terms and in formulating successful healthcare programmes to
assist communities in need (see Tchouaffi & Kitchener’s 2020).

As the anthropology of healthcare continues to develop, so more areas of specialisation are being
developed, such as studies that investigate the global market in human organs, mental health practices,
air pollution, aging, the prevention and healing of commutable and other diseases that could result in
death resulting from malaria, cholera, hepatitis, TB, HIV/AIDS, the Ebola virus, monkey pox and the
COVID-19 pandemic.

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Interesting fact:
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as “a state of physical, mental and social well-
being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (Otorkpa 2022:1).

The WHO supports a great variety of projects to assist communities worldwide in combatting illnesses.
As an applied anthropologist specialising in healthcare, the WHO website supplies information of health
issues across the globe. To learn more of what the WHO is about, you can visit its site at Constitution of
the World Health Organization ([Link]).

5. DOMAINS OF HEALTHCARE

Systems of healthcare consist of various domains and anthropologists' expertise enables them to make
contributions in all of these:

• Perceptions of health are socioculturally constructed: What being healthy means to people may
differ from community to community.
• Sociocultural behaviour associated with illness: What is considered appropriate behaviour for
coping with illness may differ from community to community.
• Perceptions and beliefs in terms of the nature of illness and procedures for restoring health differ
from community to community.
• Prescribed roles are found in every sociocultural system, including everyone involved with illness,
the patient, those associated with the patient, practitioners, and attendants.
• Appropriate procedures and practices.
• A repertoire of healthcare knowledge about medicine, diagnoses, treatments, and cures (Jaiswal
2018:6; Kottak 2019:12,46).

[Link] APPLICATIONS IN A HEALTHCARE CONTEXT

Prescribed reading 8 (available on the APY3702 site under the Prescribed readings icon in your
dashboard):
Tchouaffi, Awah Kum & Kitchener, Ndipho Tatou Christian. 2020. ’Medical Anthropology and Practice of
Medicine in Health issues.’ Somatosphere: Science, Medicine and Anthropology. [online]
[Link] pp 1-4.

Answer the following questions to guide you through the prescribed reading:

• What was the aim and focus of Tchouaffi & Kitchener’s (2020) study?

• Explain what Tchouaffi & Kitchener (2020) meant when they said that Africa is characterised by
medical pluralism.

• Give an example discussed by the authors of how ethnomedicine, specifically traditional African
medicine, was successfully applied to solve a recent worldwide health issue within a particular
society.

• Critically discuss the methodology Tchouaffi & Kitchener (2020) used to conduct research for this
study. Although they did not mention this, they did not do fieldwork. What do you think is the reason
for the absence of face-to-face research?

• Discuss the authors’ explanation of the role of medical (healthcare) anthropologists and give two
examples of the successful application of the anthropological approach in a healthcare situation.

• Discuss the interplay between biomedical practitioners (doctors like general practitioners) and

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medical (healthcare) anthropologists in the implementation of medical interventions/

• Tchouaffi & Kitchener (2020) want anthropologists who specialise in healthcare (medical
anthropologists) to assist in the development of a collaboration of healthcare systems (biomedicine
and ethnomedicine). Critically discuss the reasons for the authors’ reasoning for the need of this
collaboration and illustrate your answer with given examples.

According to Kwame (2021:1847), “countries like China, Japan, Singapore, India, the Republic of Korea,
and Hong Kong have integrated TMH [Traditional Medicines and Healing practices] into their mainstream
health care systems”. Patients can make use of TMH systems exclusively or in combination with
biomedical treatments. The possibility of these kinds of collaborations in Africa can therefore not be
ignored and has been explored by African anthropologists on different occasions.

Additional reading (not compulsory):

As mentioned in the previous paragraph, this topic has been explored by several African
anthropologists, of which the following are examples:

• Kwame (2021) discussed it in his article Integrating Traditional Medicine and Healing into the
Ghanaian Mainstream Health System: Voices From Within.
• Madiba (2010) in Are Biomedicine Health Practitioners Ready to Collaborate with Traditional Health
Practitioners in HIV and AIDS Care in Tutume Sub District of Botswana.
• Mayekiso & Mawere (2015) cover this topic in their study Traditional Healers and Medicine in South
Africa: A Quest for Legal and Scientific Recognition.

Prescribed reading 9 (available on the APY3702 site under the Prescribed readings icon in your
dashboard):
Nyamongo, Isaac K. 2015. ‘A folk model of malaria causation among the Abagussi of South-western
Kenya: Implications for malaria treatment.’ in (ed) Nkwi, N. The Anthropology of Africa: Challenges for
the 21st Century. Cameroon: LANGAA RPCIG: pp 69-78.

Note that Langaa RPCIG is the publisher of this article and promotes African scholarship.

Prescribed reading 9 is a good example of how an anthropologist’s research can assist in guiding health
program creators to understand why a program does not have the intended successful results, in this
case, the prevention of malaria in western Kenya. The anthropologist’s research results can assist
healthcare providers to adapt their elimination and prevention program/medicines to better fit the health
needs of the intended population. Even though this study was conducted quite some time ago, it teaches
us the importance of using the anthropological approach, which includes face-to-face interviews and thus
a down-up rather than a top-down approach, because most importantly these programs are about the
concerned communities’ needs.

Today malaria is still a big threat in Africa and across the world. Though there has been a considerable
improvement in the treatment of malaria, according to the South African National Department of Health
(2022), at least 600 000 people die of malaria in Africa yearly and most of them are children under the
age of 5 years old (Malaria - National Department of Health, 2022).

As you read prescribed reading 9, answer the following questions:

• Discuss some of the various notions about the causation of malaria throughout the ages which had
an impact on how infected people were treated and their survival rate.

• What was Nyamongo’s (2015) aim of and intend with this study?

• Critically discuss Nyamongo’s (2015) anthropological methodology and ethical considerations used

49
 for this study.

• Discuss the three main causes for malaria reported by the people of Bomorenda.

• Using the holistic approach, Nyamongo (2015) was able to theorise why green maize, sugary foods
and ground nuts were perceived as causative agents for malaria. Discuss his reasoning concerning
these ideas about causation.

• Discuss what Nyamongo (2015) identified as one of the main reasons children might be affected
worse by deaths resulting from malaria than adults and what might be a possible solution for this
dilemma.

Prescribed reading 10 (available on the APY3702 site under the Prescribed readings icon in your
dashboard):
Singer, Merrill. 2020. ‘COVID-19 and the Lessons Anthropology Learned from HIV/AIDs.’
Somatosphere: Science, Medicine and Anthropology. [online]. [Link]
singer/ : pp 1-5.

Prescribed reading 10 is to make you aware of pandemic projects in which applied anthropologists have
been involved and how the turnaround time for this kind of research has changed over time.

As you read the prescribed reading, answer the following question:

Briefly discuss the history of pandemics in the world since the first time an AIDS patient was identified
in the US to which applied anthropologists were able to respond to a lesser and greater extent as
discussed by Singer (2020).

[Link] self-evaluation activities

Activity 9.1
Tchouaffi & Kitchener (2020) want anthropologists who specialise in healthcare (medical
anthropologists) to assist in the development of a collaboration of healthcare systems (biomedicine and
ethnomedicine). Critically discuss your opinion on such a collaboration.

Activity 9.2
Include answers to the following questions on the prescribed reading A folk model of malaria causation
among the Abagussi of south-western Kenya (2015).
• How did the anthropologist contribute to possible solutions for the people of Abagussi’s healthcare
issues?
• What are your own views on the contribution to healthcare made by the anthropologist?

Activity 9.3
What anthropological insights did you gain by reading Singer’s (2020) article on COVID-19 and the
Lessons Anthropology Learned from HIV/AIDS?

Study skills: evaluating content

Module and prescribed readings: you have an opinion of your own so do not simply take what you read
at face value. Keep your own opinions, experiences and knowledge in mind, and reflect them in your
own writing. Remember to motivate your views.
Evaluate the content of what you write. Ask someone whose judgement you value to read your
assignment. You may find that his or her ideas are useful in helping you evaluate the quality of your
work.

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Lesson 10: ANTHROPOLOGY AND BUSINESS

Lesson 10
ANTHROPOLOGY AND BUSINESS

FRAMEWORK

1. Introduction
2. Anthropology in the business environment
Prescribed reading 11: Using Anthropology (Researching a business organization) (2006) by
David W McCurdy
3. Concluding self-evaluation activities

LESSON OUTCOMES

After working through this lesson, you should be able to do the following:

• Discuss the intricacies of business culture (corporate culture) as an appropriate field of

anthropological enquiry.
• Discuss the role of anthropology in the business environment.

KEYTERM
Corporate culture

1. INTRODUCTION

In the cosmopolitan bustle of cities and economic centres anthropologists have increasingly become
involved in exploring and researching the intricacies of life within organisations and businesses of
commerce and industry. They have become aware that what they are doing in cities is not all that
different from their work in development, healthcare or education because the foundation of any applied
anthropology is the anthropological perspective to researching issues and finding suitable solutions that
benefit those concerned.

2. Anthropology in the business environment

An underlying theme of anthropology in the business world, commerce and industry, and business
organisations, is economics and productivity. The anthropologist perceives an organisation both as an
economic unit and as a unit of people who share certain similar aspects known as a corporate or
business culture. Anthropologists do not only study the formal corporate culture but also the informal
lived experiences. The anthropological emphasis is on the human side of business. It is therefore
possible to successfully apply anthropology to resolve operational and organisational issues (Tian,
Sigamani & Malhotra 2018:1;3).

The anthropological approach gives the researcher a unique perspective on organisational conditions
and problems. Ethnographic fieldwork methods such as participant observation, in-depth interviews and
face-to-face focus groups equip business anthropologists with the skills of expert cultural researchers
and cross-cultural communicators in finding solutions to innumerable issues experienced in the world of
business. The following are just a few examples in which anthropologists can make valuable
contributions:

• Mediating between the workforce and management

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 • Contributing to ‘best practices’ that are ethically correct and have the interest of the consumer
and society at large in mind
• Help business employees avoiding hazards in a multinational business world
• Assist with organisational behavioural issues
• Diversity training and management
• Communication in business settings
• Understanding cultural differences, values and expectations in the global marketplace
• Product and service design and development
• Marketing research (advertising, sales promotion, etc) by identifying what potential diverse
customers do, think, and want
• Consumer behaviour studies
• Improving customer service (Tian, Sigamani & Malhotra 2018:1-3)

Interesting fact:
Uloma Ogba (2022) is one of the founders of She Leads Africa (SLA) organisation. This is an
organisation that connects women across Africa, supplying them with resources like articles,
newsletters, podcasts and YouTube videos to start and grow successful business careers. It is
estimated that more than 700 000 women across Africa are part of the SLA network. Ogba (2022)
included a short article on the SLA site in which she discussed the importance of anthropology in the
business world. She said that to identify and explain the behaviour and needs of consumers,
anthropologists have been appointed in businesses like Microsoft, Google and Intel. To read more about
the She Leads Africa organisation and Uloma Ogba’s emphasis on anthropology, follow this link:
Anthropology in business - She Leads Africa

The following prescribed reading is a good example of how the anthropological approach can assist a
manager to solve issues concerning poor service delivery in a warehouse of a multinational corporation.
Though this is an example of quite some time ago, it is still relevant in a current multinational business
environment.

Prescribed reading 11 (available on the APY3702 site under the Prescribed readings icon in your
dashboard):
McCurdy, David W. 2006. ‘Using Anthropology.’ in (eds.) Spradley, J & McCurdy D.W. Conformity and
conflict: Readings in cultural anthropology. San Francisco: Pearson.: pp 1-6. (Researching a business
organization)

Answer the following questions to guide you through the prescribed reading:

• What problems did the manager Susan Stanton have to deal with?

• What did the manager’s ethnographic approach entail?

• How did the ethnographic approach improve productivity?

• What was the reaction of the employees to the manager’s approach?

• How does a business anthropologist demonstrate expertise as a cultural broker?

• What are you own experiences, if any, of productivity in your workplace?

• How could an anthropologist make a difference to poor communication in your work environment?

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[Link] self-evaluation activities

Activity 10.1

Critically review the role of the anthropologist in the business environment.

Illustrate your argument with reference to the prescribed reading (McCurdy 2006).

Activity 10.2

With reference to McCurdy (2006), critically discuss how anthropological methodology contributes to
understanding the business environment:

• Business values and management expectations

• Employees’ values and needs
• Improved business practice

Your answers must be discussions rather than just descriptions of the prescribed reading. Remember
that the role of the anthropologist involves the anthropological approach, methodology, relevant skills,
dealing with the specific human issues of the business world and bring about appropriate sociocultural
changes relevant to the business world.

In answering the questions, you are guided on what you should consider when working through the
prescribed readings. It is important to note that you are expected to give more than two or three
sentence answers! You are expected to use the questions as ideas you can explore.

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 Lesson 11: ANTHROPOLOGY AND HUMAN RIGHTS

FRAMEWORK

1. Introduction
2. Anthropology and human rights
3. Human rights issues
Prescribed reading 12: An anthropological study of “witch camps” and human rights in northern
Ghana (2018) by Saibu Mutaru
4. Concluding self-evaluation activities

LESSON OUTCOMES

After working through this lesson, you should be able to do the following:

• Critically discuss the problematics involved with human rights issues.

• State the problems in distinguishing between human rights issues and general human issues.
• Formulate your own substantiated views on the engagement of anthropologists with human rights
issues.

KEY TERMS
Human rights, Universal Declaration of Human Rights

1. INTRODUCTION

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by the United Nations General
Assembly in 1948 and gave rise to a vast body of international and national human-rights laws. This
declaration was assembled against the backdrop of the Second World War in an effort to prevent states
from inflicting again on humans’ future global wars, military imperialism and genocide. Goodale
(2015:362) explained that it was intended to be a set of universal moral principles, of which the most
important one was that all humans are born in equal dignity.

Interesting facts:
There are 30 main human rights set out in the UDHR that belong to all of us. The aim of Amnesty
International is to investigate and expose human rights transgression. Amnesty International sets the 30
basic human rights out on the following site:
Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Amnesty International

However, the human rights declaration has particular historical roots, was set for particular social and
political reasons by people in a particular context (Goodale 2022:4). One of the first critiques against the
UDHR came from the American Anthropological Association (AAA). According to Billaud (2022:1), it was
stated that it could not fully support the UDHR due to its commitment to cultural relativism. The AAA also
did not support the idea of universal human rights, because normalising human rights across the globe
would just lead to another expression of cultural imperialism. It is problematic to proclaim that all
communities, societies and nations worldwide have the same moral principles. For one, contexts differ
across communities which has a huge impact on what is perceived to be right or wrong. To no surprise,
the UDHR has been contested by numerous scholars around the globe. Scholars like Spivak (2004)
Righting Wrongs and Maldonado-Torres’ (2017) On the Coloniality of Human Rights contributed to a kind
of reinvention of human rights which is still in progress (The Human Rights Discourse). From an
anthropological point of view, people’s voices and experiences from across the globe are needed to
assist in a reinvention or evolvement of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Goodale 2022:3).

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In this lesson, and in the next lesson on activism, the focus is on anthropology and human rights
scenarios. Even though anthropologists do not always agree with the UDHR, there has been a deep
commitment to social justice, which has come to the front in the form of numerous studies concerning
human rights issues in communities represented by engaged anthropologists. More specific examples of
anthropology as a kind of human rights activism are included in Lesson 12’s prescribed reading.

Interesting facts:
As an applied anthropologist interested in becoming involved in human rights issues, it is important to
become acquainted with all the procedures that are in place when assistance is needed. In Africa, like in
Europe and America, we have a regionalised charter on human rights. More detailed information
concerning this charter is given at the following site:

African Charter on Human and People’s Rights at African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights |
African Legal Information Institute ([Link]).

Human rights violations have to be reported to human rights agencies or organisations who then report
it to the relevant courts. People can also report such cases themselves to the relevant courts. You can
make yourself familiar with the procedures followed in the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights
on the following site:

African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights – Protecting Human Rights in Africa at
Home - African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights ([Link])

2. ANTHROPOLOGY AND HUMAN RIGHTS – DECLARATION ON ANTHROPOLOGY AND HUMAN

RIGHTS

Despite anthropology’s characteristic authority, its ethical sensitivity, and its professional commitment to
comprehend the complexities of the human experience, people and culture, anthropology was only able
to make marginal if any contribution to the formulation of the modern and international legal and political
system that constitutes a bill of human rights. However, the American Anthropological Association has
made its own statement on Anthropology and Human Rights. The first statement was compiled in 1999
and the second more updated statement was released July 2020.

The American Anthropology Association’s (AAA) 2020 statement on Anthropology and Human Rights is
presented on the following site:
2020 Statement on Anthropology and Human Rights - Participate and Advocate ([Link])

3. Human rights issues

From the anthropological point of view, human rights issues are not clearly defined. And, when it comes
to anthropological inquiry into human rights issues, the ambiguity of what is a human rights issue and
what is a general human issue (a common crime) is a dilemma confronting anthropologists.

The Marikana Massacre, which refers to the tragic events of 11 to 16 August 2012 at the Lonmin Mine in
the Northwest Province, is a good example of the difficulties that arise when brutal actions need to be
classified as a general human issue or as a transgression against humanity, therefore a human rights
transgression (Boëtger & Rathbone 2016:2).

However, anthropologists continue to explore the reinvention or evolvement of human rights issues,
investigate identified human rights issues, and continue to expose human rights violations in order to
advance the cause of human dignity and wellbeing.

The following prescribed reading is an anthropological investigation into the possible violation of human
rights issues in northern Ghana.

55
Prescribed reading 12 (available on the APY3702 site under the Prescribed readings icon in your
dashboard):
Mutaru, Saibu. 2018. ‘An anthropological study of “witch camps” and human rights in northern Ghana.’
in (eds.) Green, M.C., Gunn, T.J. & Hill, M. Religion, law and security in Africa. Stellenbosch: Conf-RAP:
pp 251-267.

Answer the following questions to guide you through the prescribed reading:

• Discuss the anthropological methodology that Mutaru (2018) used to investigate human rights and
witch camps in northern Ghana.

• Though witchcraft is practiced across communities worldwide, it is difficult to define witchcraft.

Discuss Mutaru’s (2018) explanation for this predicament and give relevant examples.

• How does Mutaru (2018) define witchcraft and what does he indicate are the shortcomings in this
definition?

• Europe and America’s history is riddled with witchcraft accusations and the mistreatment and
execution of the accused witches. The same is true for Africa. Discuss Mutaru’s (2018) explanation
of why witchcraft accusations in Africa have been negatively stereotyped.

• Usually, women and children are the target of witchcraft accusations. Discuss the legal mechanisms
used to protect the constitutional rights and civil liberties of women and children in Africa as
illustrated by the author.

• Does the theory held by the Ghanaian theologian Opoku Onyinah that an acceleration in
globalisation and modernity, including better racial and social conditions, will lead to a decrease in
witchcraft accusations hold any truth? In addition to the author’s opinion, include your own
perceptions on this matter (p 256).

• Explain why the author thinks the witchcraft accusations against women are higher in the north of
Ghana then in southern Ghana (p 257).

• Unfortunately, the author did not decolonise his description of Africa before it became influenced by
‘world civilisation’. What would be the correct way to refer to African society before modernisation?

• Give a short explanation of Mutara’s (2018) ethnographic description of the organisation of Ghanese
witch camp.?

• Though Human Rights Associations, the media and NGOs perceive witch camps as “prisons”
characterised by human rights transgressions, the accused women and the local communities have
a different opinion. Discuss this statement with reference to Mutaru’s (2018) fieldwork results as
discussed in his article. Illustrate your discussion with examples of differences between prisons and
witch camps.

• Do you agree with the Human Rights Associations, the media and NGOs that witch camps are
sanctuaries of human rights transgressions? Illustrate your answer with examples from Mutaru’s
(2018) study.

Additional reading (not compulsory):

Witchcraft conversations have also seen the light in South Africa. One anthropologist who has
conducted comprehensive research on this topic is Isak Niehaus. If you would like to familiarise yourself
with his work, you can read this article:

Niehaus, Isak. 2010. ‘Witchcraft as subtext: Deep knowledge and the South African public sphere.’ in
Social Dynamics 36 (1): pp 65-77.

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[Link] self-evaluation activities

Activity 11.1
Type or jot down notes on what the Anthropological Declaration on Human Rights (2020) says on what
more is required of anthropologists than the obligation to do no harm.

Activity 11.2
• Can you identify any imbalances of power among groups of people within your own environment?
• As a humanitarian anthropologist, have you encountered any injustice in which you would like to
involve yourself?
• Are there any ethical issues you should consider before speaking out or becoming involved?

Activity 11.3
The focus in this lesson is on what is involved in the practice of anthropology and human rights. Identify
possible dilemmas that anthropologists could experience in this field of study.

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 Lesson 12: ANTHROPOLOGICAL ACTIVISM

FRAMEWORK

1. Introduction
2. Involvement with suffering
3. Activist methodology
4. Issues of activist anthropology
Prescribed reading 13: “Introduction” in Engaged observer: Anthropology, advocacy and activism
(2006) by Victoria Sanford
5. Concluding self-evaluation questions

LESSON OUTCOMES

After working through this lesson, you should be able to do the following

• Critically discuss why and how anthropologists involve themselves with activist anthropology and
human suffering.
• Critically discuss what activist anthropology entails regarding research methodology and various
issues inherent in activism.

KEY TERMS
Activism, advocacy

1. INTRODUCTION

In this lesson, we explore what it means to be an anthropologist involved in activism and/or advocacy.
We will focus on the practical issues that an anthropologist may have to confront when choosing to
engage with this domain of applied anthropology.

2. INVOLVEMENT WITH SUFFERING

The argument that anthropologists have a responsibility to investigate how power structures cause
suffering is that ethically and emotionally anthropologists cannot ignore or avoid researching the brutality
of the experiences of people and communities and the historical contexts in which they live. More and
more of the world’s populations are marginalised, living in refugee camps or rural wastelands or areas of
ecological devastation or in prisons or informal settlements.

Whether an anthropologist explores social, economic and/or political divides imposed by class or culture
or gender or sexual orientation, and whether the anthropologist is studying the inequalities from top to
bottom or vice versa or both, the participating and observant activist anthropologist researching issues of
human suffering is ‘surrounded by violence’ (Bourgois 2006:xi-xii).

In many instances, activist anthropologists do not set out to be witnesses to the various faces of socio-
political violence that constitute activist scenarios. Nevertheless, witness to violence is a particular
adjunct to the involvement of anthropologists researching the suffering of the politically and economically
powerless (Kirsch 2018:12; Sanford 2006:1).

The experience of the activist anthropologist in researching human suffering may include the following,
as suggested by Bourgois (2006:x-xi):

• Anthropologists are generally emotionally shocked by the human face of their research topics.

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• Activist research uncovers the excessive toll of the everyday level of human suffering — ‘blood,
sweat, tears, angst, pain, and premature death’ (Bourgois 2006:x) caused by the inequalities of
political power.
• Globalisation manifests in military interventions, market-driven poverty, ecological destruction and
wastelands, economic developments that add to social inequalities and technologies that bring
disease that, among others, constitute causes of human suffering.
• In their analyses, activist anthropologists make connections between macro (global or national)
forces and intimate social relations, emotions, and dispositions of local communities and individuals.
• Sociocultural relativism could hinder anthropologists in writing about injustice.

Interesting fact:
Dr Stella Nyanzi is a medical anthropologist well-known for her role as activist campaigning mainly for
the rights of women and girls, and the rights of LGBTQIA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer,
intersex and asexual) in Uganda. She is by many referred to as a radical activist. To familiarise yourself
with this kind of activism you can visit the following site:

Stella Nyanzi | South African History Online ([Link])

3. ACTIVIST METHODOLOGY

Although in some instances anthropologists do not set out to involve themselves in activism, their
research and data gathering methods possibly open them to more humanistic, holistic, and relevant
engagement in the lives of humans.

An argument for the relevance of anthropological methodology in researching human suffering is that the
historical record of anthropological involvement in social issues using the anthropological approach,
especially participant observation fieldwork and at times the belief in sociocultural relativism as well as
long-term involvement with the communities we research, has been the differentiating factor in
comparison with other social science research methodologies (Bourgois 2006:x).

4. ISSUES OF ACTIVIST ANTHROPOLOGY

The following prescribed reading, Victoria Sanford’s Introduction to Engaged observer: anthropology,
advocacy and activism (2006) provides a comprehensive overview of what activist anthropology entails.
Though it was written a while ago, the discussed examples have important relevance for anthropologists
who either intentionally or accidentally find themselves in similar situations.

Prescribed reading 13 (available on the APY3702 site under the Prescribed readings icon in your
dashboard):
Sanford, Victoria. 2006. ‘Introduction.’ in (eds.) Sanford, V & Angel-Ajani, A. Engaged observer:
Anthropology, advocacy, and activism. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press: pp 1-14.

As you work through the prescribed reading, ask yourself the following questions:

• Engaged anthropologists become involved in the everyday lives of people who experience all kinds
of crimes against humanity, to assist so that their everyday needs to survive are met. Give some
examples of these kind of scenarios mentioned by Sanford (2006).

• The anthropologist Philippe Bourgois set out to study peasant ideologies of revolution in a
Salvadoran refugee camp in Honduras. During his stay among the refugees a perplexing situation
unfolded. Critically discuss the ethical quandaries Bourgois was faced with.

• According to Sanford (2006), the anthropologist Stuart Kirsch studied the social impact of the Ok
Tedi Mine in Papua New Guinea on its surrounding communities. He participated in the legal and

59
 political campaign to stop the mine from polluting the rivers and forests of the local communities and
assisted them with gaining compensation for the damages already done. Explain how he perceived
the anthropologists’ role as activist.

• Critically discuss unequal power relations produced by wealth and the anthropologists’ position of
privilege as discussed by Sanford (2006).

• Discuss examples of dilemmas faced by activist anthropologists involved with human suffering
discussed in Sanford’s (2006) reading. Include notes on the following:
o What was the scenario?
o What was the inequality in power relations?
o What did the human suffering entail?
o What did the activities of the anthropologist entail?

Additional reading (not compulsory):

If you are interested in this field, another good book written by an anthropologist concerning activism,
suffering and activist methodologies in a South African context is:

Levine, Susan. 2014. Children of a Bitter Harvest: Child Labour in the Cape Winelands. Cape Town,
South Africa: HSRC Press.

[Link] self-evaluation activities

Activity 12.1
“Anthropologists cannot escape physically, ethically, and emotionally the suffering or the brutality of their
research [participants] and the historical epoch in which they live” (Bourgois 2006:xii).

• With reference to the above statement, write an essay on anthropology, activism and advocacy.
• Use examples of the prescribed reading to motivate your own views and stance on activist
anthropology.

Activity 12.2
The main emphasis in any applied anthropological study should be on conducting ethical research,
because “the human, social, and ecological consequences of applied research are immediate,
potentially significant, and sometimes critical to the life and survival of communities” (Trotter, Schensul &
Kostic 2015:661).

Explain this statement with reference to examples given in the prescribed reading (Sanford 2006).

Activity 12.3
Write a paragraph on your own responses to the argument that anthropologists should engage with the
issues of human suffering.

• Can you describe a scenario of human suffering of your own experience that needs anthropological
investigation?
• In what way do you think the anthropologist’s research would benefit the people?
• Would you consider being involved in researching issues of human suffering?
• Can you explain why you think you should or should not be involved?

Congratulations! You have completed this module.

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